


In the Dark

by DoctorMerlinReid



Series: In the Life (When Running Blind) [1]
Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Blind!Wally, Child Abuse, F/M, Reverse Age Bat Fam, Wally is a Bat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-23
Updated: 2016-06-23
Packaged: 2018-07-16 20:36:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 29
Words: 115,183
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7283779
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DoctorMerlinReid/pseuds/DoctorMerlinReid
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Wally is blinded as a child and ends up in a Gotham orphanage. Famous billionaire Bruce Wayne adopts him and gives him a home and a family. Wally is suddenly thrown into a world of crime and supervillains that he can't see.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is basically almost entirely AU. For example, Wally received his powers when he was much younger and it was an accident instead of him recreating his uncle's experiment. His father cut all tied with Iris around the same time that Wally was born, so Iris and Barry never met Wally. Also, it's a reverse age fic with the Bat Clan. I know its super AU, but this is what works with the story, sorry!

WWWWWW

Wally was seven years old when he got his super speed. His mother was visiting a friend who worked at Blue Valley's very own chemical producing plant. Wally was standing between the aisles of completed chemical product, watching from a slight distance as his mom and her friend made plans to meet on Friday. Suddenly, thunder roared to life outside of the plant and rain started pounding on the roof, the windows, the doors; anything to get into the building. Sparks of thick lightening arched across the sky and crackled for a mere second before fizzling out, only to be replaced by another.

Wally watched in wide-eyed wonder as the lightning sparkled across the sky. His face was turned up towards the window when one particular bolt of lightning crashed through it, spitting out sparks and heat as it raced across the room, blowing entire shelves out of the way, coming straight towards Wally. His mother, Mary, screamed, wind whipping her dress and her hair, hand stretched out towards her son.

For a moment, everything was still. Wally had time to reflect that he'd never seen his mother care so much about him before. The lightning still looked pretty even as it made its deadly arc towards his small body. Seven years old was too young to die. Then, it struck him.

When Wally woke up, four months later, the doctors told him that his body had been struck by the lightning and thrown into piles of chemicals. The lightning raced through the liquid, electrocuting him more and more. The chemical liquids found an outlet and more electricity slammed into his young body, leaving him in an extended coma. His heart had stopped several times. Almost all of his body had been covered in second and third degree burns. There was scarring, but much less than was expected. Overall, he was lucky to be alive.

The doctors told his parents that he was awake and could return home in two days. His mother had run into the room and ghosted her hands over his arms, his shoulders, his face. Wally let her do this as the tears streamed down her face. His father, Rudy, wrung his hands for a moment, guilt flashing across his face, before he moved to wrap an arm around Mary. After another moment of hesitation, he lightly enveloped Wally's hand in his own. Wally had never remembered a time when the three of them acted so much like a family.

Throughout the rest of that day and the next, Wally noticed some strange things. Sometimes nurses would come to talk to him and their words didn't make sense. It was like they were imitating whales. Another time, his mother dropped her purse and everything tumbled out, but it didn't tumble out right. It slowly glided through the air, his mother's mouth opening in surprise slower than Wally could have recited the pledge of allegiance. His father's arm swung through the air as if it was molasses, something thick and difficult to get through until suddenly he was moving at normal speed again. Later, his best friend Linda came by with a book, claiming that she knew how much he loved the Flash and figured that this would be a good get better book. Wally had smiled and thanked her before she left. When he tried to read the book, though, it didn't work. It was as if his eyes were skipping every other line. All the words were a blur and then they weren't and then they were a blur again. It gave him a headache to even try.

Wally didn't mention these things to his father lest he ruin the tentative moment of family that was happening. This was the first time Wally could remember not being afraid of his father's belt or his heavy hands or the telltale redness in his eyes that just screamed alcohol. This was the first time Wally could remember his mother saying, "I love you." This was the first time he had seen his parents kiss and hold hands. He didn't want to ruin this for them.

When they finally got home, Wally was led gently to the kitchen and was sat down at the dining table. Mary cooked all of his favorites and served a little bit of everything to Wally and Rudy ruffled the seven year old's hair, smiling down at him. It was beautiful, but it was all gone the next day.

"Mom! Come look! I made you a present!" Wally bounced into the living room, all smiles and infectious laughter.

Mary rolled her eyes good naturedly at her husband (a first in Wally's memory) and gently told Wally, "Why don't you bring it here, sweetie? I don't want to lose my place in my book." Wally nodded eagerly and ran into the kitchen, grabbing the painting he had worked so painstakingly on and rushing back. He wasn't met with the enthusiasm he had hoped for.

His parents' eyes were wide and their mouths were open in horror. Mary made a little squeaking noise and stumbled off of the wicker rocking chair, book tumbling to the ground, forgotten. Rudy's eyes narrowed and his fist balled, stalking closer to the confused child. The little painting of their finally happy family fluttered to the floor as Wally took a nervous step backwards, "What's wrong?" His voice finally cooperated and he glanced at his parents, desperately trying to understand.

"What's wrong?" His father's voice increased to a shout by the end of the question. He continued, "I'll tell you what's wrong you little brat! All that worry you caused us during your time in the hospital, all that money we had to spend to keep you in a room there, was for nothing! It was for worse than nothing! You… have… super speed! You're one of those freaks now! One of those… those… metahumans!" He spat the last word, spittle flying into little Wally's face as one meaty hand tangled in the young boy's collar. Wally didn't understand what was going on. What was a metahuman?

He didn't say anything, however, because he knew that when his dad was in this kind of mood it was better to just listen and nod when needed and not fight back because if you fought back, you got hurt worse. So Wally just trembled in his father's grip, large green eyes desperately fighting back tears as his father continued to bellow about how Wally was a 'freak' and a 'pathetic excuse for a son' and 'not worth the gum on the bottom of his shoe'. Suddenly, though, Wally was jerked back into the conversation when Rudy's hand flew roughly against the seven year old's face.

Wally's pale cheek swung to the side, his mouth opening in surprise. He had been hit before, lots of times, but normally he would be expecting it. Then Wally caught sight of himself in a mirror across the living room. The red mark on his face that would normally become a light bruise and be healed by morning (Rudy always made sure that the only marks on visible parts of his body would disappear fast) was already fading, slowing turning yellow and then browning slightly before fading back into his normal creamy complexion. Wide green eyes turned back to his father and were met with brown orbs filled with hatred.

His father's eyes moved to the already healing mark and his lips curled in disgust. He threw his son on the floor and snarled a quick, "Stay there," before leaving for the kitchen. Mary was still standing on the other side of the room, hand against her beating heart, no sympathy in her eyes for her child. A minute later and Rudy was walking back into the room, a kitchen knife held in one hand and a beer in the other. He took a huge swig of the amber alcohol before straddling his son and forcing his shirt up. Seven years worth of abuse stood stark against the boy's pale skin and his father simply grinned at his handy-work.

Then, Rudy pushed the tip of the knife into Wally's chest and the boy's breath stuttered in surprise. It hurt, but he couldn't call out. His voice wasn't working! He was so terrified that his voice had died in his throat. His father started to talk as he continued to carve his design into Wally's chest, "I want the entire world to know what a freak you are. I want them to see you and instantly know how much of a piece of trash you are. Besides, I think you'll like this. You're always going on and on and on about that worthless hero, Flash. Now that you're just like him with you demon powers, you should look like him, too." Rudy finished and wiped the tip of the knife off on Wally's pant leg. Mary was grinning sadistically in the background.

Wally, panting with pain and the efforts of keeping his screams in (he's not supposed to scream; he gets hurt worse when he screams) sat up slightly, glancing down at his chest. Rivulets and drops of blood streamed from the deep, so deep, wound in his chest. Cut almost down to the bone, right in the center of his chest was the Flash symbol. The outline of a lightning bolt was circled and carved into his skin. Wally had figured out by now that his healing rate had somehow been increased (like the Flash, a part of his mind whispered), but there was no way that it had increased enough to stop this from scarring. He was going to have this on his chest for the rest of his life and his father was right, people were going to see him and know that he's a freak and what is he going to do and why is his mom still smiling and not helping him and his dad had never gone this far before why is everything going so wrong?

He only realized that he had spaced out when Rudy slapped him again, drawing out a whimper of pain. Wally's eyes focused on Rudy again, taking in the fact that the knife was still in the man's hand. Rudy took another swig of his drink before putting one huge palm on Wally's forehead and pushing down. Wally's head was smacked against the ground and he whimpered again, wanting nothing more than to get away from his dad. Rudy spoke again, snarling, "I don't have a way to take away your speed, so I'll do the next best thing. You're a freak, a menace to this world as long as you can run, so I'll take away what you need to run." With that last snarled sentence, Rudy plunged the knife into Wally's eyes.

When Wally woke up again, the doctors had to convince him that he really was awake. He couldn't see anything. Everything was so very dark and his eyes and his chest ached. The police officers who came by to get his statement told him that his screams alerted the neighbors. They had called the police and his father had been arrested for attempted murder and child abuse. His mother had been arrested for accessory to a crime and child neglect. The police told him that he was going to grab a few boxes full of things and grab whatever he wanted from his house and then they were going to take him somewhere else where things would be better for him. They called it an orphanage.

The doctors came back in an told him that, yes, the wound on his chest was going to scar and they told him that they were so very impressed with how far along the wound was on its way to healed. They told him that there was unfortunately nothing they could do for his eyes, that he would be blind for the rest of his life. Wally was still trying to wrap his head around the fact that he wasn't going to be living with his parents anymore. All he really knew was that he wasn't going to ever tell anyone else about his strange abilities. They were what tore his family apart when it had finally come together. His powers were what landed his parents in jail and him in the hospital. He would learn to control his powers so he could act like a normal person. He was going to learn to read Braille and he was going to learn how to stop everything from slowing down suddenly and he was going to hide any injury he got so people couldn't see how fast it healed. He was going to learn how to stop running fast when he was excited, or vibrating (he had found that out when the stress had gotten to him and he smelled burning and realized he had vibrated so fast that the hospital bed was smoking). He would learn to control his aching, bottomless hunger so people didn't talk behind his back about how much he ate.

The doctors didn't let him leave until two weeks later. Every day for the past two weeks had been spent with a physical therapist from Gotham that was certified in helping children who had been blinded. She was very nice and sweet and kept telling him how impressed she was with his progress. According to her, Wally was the smartest student she had ever had. She even said something about talking to his school (whichever one he ended up going to; it was decided that because so many people knew his parents at his old school, it would be better to move him somewhere new where he could get a fresh start) about getting him to skip a grade or two.

If Wally wasn't with Lizzy, the therapist who insisted Wally call her by her first name, he was with a social service woman or a police officer. The social service woman, named Martha, was trying to find an orphanage that would be a good fit for a blind kid. Wally had heard Martha and Lizzy arguing over whether he should be sent to an orphanage in Gotham or not. Lizzy insisted that she could help him get over any issues he might have with his blindness better if he was in Gotham. She couldn't come all the way to Blue Valley whenever he was having issues and over the phone therapy apparently isn't anywhere near as effective. Martha argued right back that Gotham is not a good place to grow up on your own. Apparently the orphanages there are notoriously bad, especially for impaired children. Eventually, Martha agreed and started filling out the paperwork to get Wally transferred to Gotham.

At the end of the two weeks, Wally got a pair of glasses that he was told had black, opaque lenses and he got a walking stick that was, according to the nurse, bright red. Lizzy helped guide Wally out of the hospital and into Martha's car and back to his house. Lizzy had been helping him practice walking with a cane and he was already pretty good at it, but his practice cane and his new, actual walking stick were a little different, leading to a couple of close calls.

The three of them finally reached his house and he was led upstairs to his room. Lizzy and Martha called out things to him and he would decide whether or not they should put it in the box. Wally could feel their horror at the complete lack of emotion his room held. There weren't any toys, only textbooks about science and math. His walls and his bed sheets and most of his clothes were muted colors: gray, brown, tan. He didn't mind, though. He loved everything about science and math and he didn't really care what he wore, so the clothes didn't bother him. He only wished that he had more Flash merchandise. Even after his powers, which were so much like Flash's, caused him all this grief, the Flash was still his favorite superhero. How could he stop worshipping the man who had saved so many people and been so amazing? Flash had been his only beacon of light in the world for a long, long time.

Wally convinced Lizzy to let him keep the textbooks even though he would never be able to read them again. He asked Martha to let him keep the pictures of Linda and himself even though he couldn't see them. The textbooks, the pictures, and the clothes he kept didn't even fill up a single cardboard box. Wally didn't want to keep anything else.

Three days later found Wally in a Gotham Catholic orphanage. Once arriving at the overly crowded house, the patron of the orphanage led Wally up the stairs to his new room. He was sharing it with seven other boys around his age. A boy had just moved out of the room, supposedly having been adopted by some billionaire or another. After helping Wally get his things into an ancient trunk at the foot of the bed, Father George, the patron, left, saying that Wally's roommates would be upstairs shortly.

Wally sat on his bed patiently, his cane propped up against the frame next to him. He reflected over some of the strange happenings that had occurred since his visit to his house. He had noticed his senses had increased to the point that he could hear Lizzy and Martha's heartbeats from across the room, smell the pine tree scent of Martha's car from a hundred feet away, feel the subtle shifts in the air when someone entered a room, taste the rain on the air before a storm even threatens to begin. He knew that wasn't normal. He also knew that this wasn't something that had happened to the Flash. The newly blinded boy had to assume that these new abilities came from a mixture of the chemicals and his loss of one of the five senses. He would just have to learn to control these things as well. He had gotten much better at not running/ vibrating when excited, but he still shook sometimes during a nightmare. He could read lower level Braille without any of the issues he had originally faced when gaining his powers. Wally still hadn't figured out how to deal with his eating problem and knew that he had to find a secondary supply of food because people didn't know about his appetite change and weren't feeding him enough.

Suddenly thundering steps startled him back into the real world and he tilted his head towards where he was pretty sure he remembered the door being. Seven heart beats slammed into existence in the room as the boys crowded around him, each of them jostling each other for a better view. One of them shifted closer, grabbing Wally's hand roughly, making Wally jump at the sudden contact, and shook it enthusiastically. He spoke with a blossoming arrogant attitude, "My name's Martin and I'm in charge of this room. We don't really want some blind kid slowing us down, so I'll make you a deal. You stay away from us and don't make a big deal about us 'not playing with you' and we don't beat the snot out of you. Got it, kid?"

So that was how it was going to be. Wally should have known that things wouldn't suddenly become perfect. He should have known that his life wasn't going to get better after so many hardships. His lips pursed and he spoke tersely, but still quietly, "I got it." Fine. See if he cares. They can go play their games and be friends and leave him out. That just meant that he had more time to get his powers under control and search for a secondary food source. He would let them do what they wanted. He'd never had a friend other than Linda before anyways. He didn't need anyone else.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wally is found and adopted by the Bat Clan.

BBBBBB

Batman swept down from the roof, landing neatly in an alleyway. Robin followed quickly, flipping on his way down. The Dark Knight had to fight a smile at that. The kid had way too much fun showing off when he was fighting crime. It was always amazing to see the way Robin almost floated as he walked, ran, fought. Every move he made was free and swift and… like a Robin.

Bruce was glad he had adopted the acrobat. He was worried that adding another child to his already impressive collection would increase the already high tensions in the Wayne household, but the newest addition had actually managed to sooth the frayed nerves of the Bat Clan. Batman rolled his eyes inwardly at the thought. Ever since Stephanie had used the name at the Cave one day, it had stuck. Dick especially had seemed enchanted with the idea, all of nine years old and fresh in his brand new Robin suit. That was two years ago, just a couple of months after he had adopted the bright blue eyed boy from that Catholic orphanage.

Red Hood's voice crackled to life in Batman's ear, speaking clearly, "I've got eyes on one of the high ranking members." There was a pause before he continued, "He just caught site of me too if the wide eyes and suspicious wet spot on his pants indicates anything."

Red Robin's dry tone responded lazily, "While you made someone urinate on himself, I took out several other members and got a location on the meeting tonight." Batgirl's ever so quiet laugh tinkled in Batman's ear.

Nightwing sighed loudly, "Are you going to share that location?"

"It's the basement of some Catholic orphanage in downtown Gotham." Tim answered, peeved. Batman, however, froze. He felt Dick do the same next to him.

"If I don't get orders pretty soon Batman, I'm going by myself." Red Hood complained through the earpiece.

Robin's voice frantically cut through any response Batman would have made, "Is the orphanage run by a priest named George Whitshaker? Three stories, all boys?"

"Um," Tim began, confusion tinting his voice, "Yes. How do you know that? You can't tell me that you and Batman already got the information!"

"We didn't." Batman took control of the situation, glancing at his newest ward, "That was the orphanage where I found Robin." There was a terse silence before Jason swore emphatically.

"Orders?" Damian asked, cutting off Jason's next curse word.

Batman thought for a moment, glancing at his youngest before giving his orders, "I want Red Hood and Nightwing to scope out the place. You're closest. After you finish, get onto the roof of the building across the street. Red Robin, Batgirl, Robin, and I will meet you there. Red Hood, make sure that the man who saw you doesn't make it to the meeting." He almost stopped there before adding, "Without killing him."

Less than ten minutes later found the entire Bat Clan crouched on the roof across from the orphanage. According to what Jason and Damian saw and what Dick remembered, there were only two viable entrances: the front and back door. Any windows that could be easily opened from the outside led into rooms that were occupied. Based on the deadlock that Nightwing spied on the front door, Batman assumed that the members of the meeting were going in through the back. This was supposed to be a meeting of the top criminals in the city. The little villains of Gotham were planning on working together to get the city back from the big players like Joker, Penguin, Two-Face, etc. Batman had called the entire group together again to deal with this threat.

Together, the group crept in through the back door, easily taking out the guards without making any noise. According to Dick's memories of the place, the door to the basement was around the corner. They rounded the corner and stopped short at what they saw. Sat directly in front of the door they wanted to get into was a small red haired child.

WWWWWW

Wally had been sitting in front of the door to the basement, guarding it, ready to warn the criminals downstairs if anyone came to find them. He was also supposed to redirect any kids that found their ways downstairs at this time of night. Father George had found out about Wally's heightened senses after a slip up. He blackmailed the then eight year old boy, saying that he would send him to scientists to experiment on him if he didn't do exactly what the priest wanted. So, for the past year, Wally had been using his senses to hide criminal meetings. Father George was being paid a handsome amount of money for each meeting. Criminals needed a place where they could meet and know that they would be safe and Father George provided that. Ever since Wally started guarding the basement door, not a single meeting had been busted. There had been a few close calls, but never a discovery. Wally had gotten a much better handle on his speed abilities and had found a dumpster a few alleys down from the orphanage that always had food in it. He had had to teach himself a lot about being blind because two months after he began life in Gotham, Lizzy was killed in a random mugging. Wally had been distraught, but everyone else brushed it off, saying that it was just a fact of life in the slums of Gotham.

Wally was shaken from his musings by the sound of new steady heartbeats outside the back door of the orphanage. He lifted his head toward the sound, confused. He hadn't heard anyone sneak closer yet there were six heartbeats that came out of nowhere. He listened intently as whoever was out there took down the guards. Wally stood quickly, turning and reaching for the handle to the basement door. The knob was half turned when he stopped, thoughts racing through his mind three times faster than a normal human. There were six people out there. They were silent enough to not be heard by him and skilled enough to take out the highly trained guards outside. He could hear something that sounded like a cape swishing back and forth. He smelled blood and sweat and heard the sound of a bullet in a gun, clinking gently against the inside of the magazine clip. He heard someone tap their fingers against a long wooden pole. Could these people be… superheroes? Weapons, blood, sweat, capes. Could these people finally put the criminals in jail and get someone to replace Father George? Was this his chance to stop these secret late night meetings?

Making a split second decision, Wally sat back down in the chair, gripping his cane tightly, black glasses fitting snuggly on his face. The people turned the corner that led to the basement, stuttering to a stop. He could tell that they were staring at him, a small, redheaded blind kid guarding the door to a secret meeting. Wally stood and walked closer to the six people, feeling them with his senses. He stopped about four feet short and whispered as quietly as he could, "Are you superheroes?"

DDDDDD

Damian didn't know what to make of this kid. He was small and thin, unnaturally so. The black glasses that screamed blind were large and dark against his glowing pale white skin. Freckles stood in stark contrast to his pallor and his bright, messy red hair. He was wearing a raggedy gray shirt and jeans that fell over the sides of his gray sneakers. All in all, he reminded Damian of a blind, child version of Colin. On the other hand, however, the kid was in the way. He seemed as if he was guarding the criminals the way his chair was sat directly in front of the door. Damian knew that Father George had to have low morals, but this was bringing it to a whole new level. Making the kids of the orphanage do his dirty work? Cruel.

Then the boy got up and quietly clicked his way towards the group. Damian idly registered the way they all tensed at the sudden movement. The boy stopped about four feet away and aimed his face slightly to the left of the center of the group. He whispered, so quietly that Damian only heard him due to years of training under Batman, "Are you superheroes?"

For a moment, Damian was confused. Of course they were superheroes. Then it registered that the kid couldn't actually see them. That led to more questions, however. If he couldn't see them, then how would he have come to the conclusion that they might have been superheroes? There was no evidence for him to jump to that conclusion. A quick scan of his siblings revealed that they were all thinking along the same lines. Damian hid a smile. Although he didn't agree with them all of the time (translation: most of the time), he was still proud of their growth in to superheroes. He turned back to the boy as his father answered in his deep, gravelly voice, "Yes. And who are you?"

"I'm Wally. Are you here to arrest the men downstairs?" The boy's voice stayed as quiet as it originally was. So, he had been guarding the door. Damian really hoped that he wouldn't have to take out a kid.

His father responded, "Yes."

Wally nodded and put the hand not holding onto his cane behind his head, rubbing his neck for a second before whispering, "Can you get all of them? Will you be able to get them all without any of them escaping?"

Damian frowned; was Wally being blackmailed and he was worried that one of the criminals they were about to bust would get away and use the blackmail? Or, worse, was he a slave to one of the men? Damian knew that there was at least one human trafficker in that meeting. Batman responded, "We'll do our best. Why are you so insistent on us catching all of them?"

Red hair ducked down and Wally mumbled, "I want to make sure the man who runs this orphanage leaves because he's awful and hurts us kids here." Batman kept up the scowl that he had been wearing since he put on the cowl earlier in the evening, but Nightwing had been with Bruce long enough to read the scowls as if Batman was telling him exactly what he felt. The last time Damian had seen this particular scowl was when they had met a certain acrobat a little over two years ago. The eldest Wayne child sighed to himself, knowing what was coming. He could practically see it happen in his head. Wally would let Batman and the others pass and they would beat the living daylights out of some criminals, Batman staying just long enough to mention Wally's assistance to the police in case someone really did have blackmail material on the kid. Soon after, Bruce Wayne would appear on the news, appalled that something like this could happen to the orphanage he had gotten his youngest ward from. He would make a show of visiting the place and making sure that the new management was suitable, 'accidently' bumping into Wally and instantly 'becoming enchanted' with the child. Wally would be adopted the next day and on his way to Wayne Manor. When Damian looked back at the child, however, he couldn't help but hear Colin's voice in his head cooing over the red head. Nightwing sighed to himself, he couldn't help but like the kid now that he thought that Colin would like him.

It happened exactly like Damian had thought it was going to. In four days, he had another brother. He hadn't interacted with his other siblings enough to know what they thought except for Dick who was extremely excited, claiming that he finally got to be a big brother and he was going to be the best big brother ever. The ranting got worse as the day of Wally's arrival grew nearer. Eventually, the day came that Wally was supposed to come to the manor. Damian sat with an arm set lightly across Colin's shoulders while the said eighteen year old curled into Damian's side, seemingly as contented as a cat. Dick was sitting at the far end of the couch, practically bouncing with anxiety. Cass was sitting cross-legged on the floor directly in front of Damian with Tim and Jason sitting as far away from each other as they possibly could in the parlor. Alfred was with Bruce picking Wally up. Somehow Stephanie had weaseled her way into the house and was practically sitting in Tim's lap. Damian tilted his head slightly. Apparently they were dating again. It was difficult to keep track of their relationship. Crouching on the table next to Dick and idly flipping a knife in the air and catching it again was Roy Harper. Damian isn't sure why Bruce let the archer in, but figured it had something to do with the fact that Dick seemed to be attached at the waist to Speedy.

Suddenly, the door swept open, everyone in the room sitting up straighter and staring intently at the door. Roy even put away his knife. Alfred came in first, raising an eyebrow at the family while he expertly side stepped the door and held it open. Wally came next, bright red cane sweeping in front of him and Bruce's comforting hand on his back, the man gently telling him that there was a bit of a step up. Wally's black glasses swept in Damian's direction and focused towards the middle of the room. Damian wondered again how the kid seemed to know so much about his surroundings even when he couldn't see, but was distracted from the line of thought by Colin's hand tangling in his shirt as the younger male sat up quickly, staring at the child. Colin bit his knuckle and turned to look up at Damian, eyes twinkling. Damian realized that he was right; Colin did think the kid was adorable. He couldn't really focus on that, however, because he was too focused on how cute Colin looked like. His lips curled up in a soft smile as he looked at his beloved, eyes softening and body relaxing as he took in his boyfriend's form.

The front door shutting broke him from his observations and he glanced back towards Wally, who had been directed in their direction, and was now waiting just inside the parlor opening. Stephanie had much the same look as Colin, eyes shining and hands clasped together, a gasp stifled in her throat. Roy had an eyebrow raised, looking the boy up and down, knowing that the boy couldn't tell. After a second, Roy looked back at Dick's expression of barely concealed glee and he smirked to himself. Damian frowned; he could tell that the three of them were going to get into shenanigans. It would be difficult, but they would manage it, he had no doubt. Wally's voice, significantly louder and more cheerful than it had been that night, broke the silence, "Hi, I'm Wally, nice to meet you." There was an underlying hint of fear and nervousness in his voice and Damian smiled softly in sympathy.

Dick launched himself off of the sofa and somehow snagged Roy's arm on the way up, pulling the teen with him. Dick stopped them directly in front of Wally and announced cheerfully, "My name's Richard, but you can call me Dick! Next to me is Roy, he's totally awesome, but sometimes he's a buzz kill, so just ignore him when he's like that." Roy frowned at Dick, but the young acrobat continued, unfazed, "He's my best friend and now you're going to be my best friend and my favorite brother." Jason's offended noise did nothing to stop Dick as he plowed on, encouraged by the growing grin on Wally's face, "You're room is right next to mine and I'm officially your big brother now. You, me, and Roy are going to hang out all the time and pull a ton of pranks. It'll be totally asterous!"

Wally tilted his head to the side and asked, amusement lighting up his voice, "Asterous?"

Damian decided it was time to step in, leaning into Colin, "Dick likes to butcher the English language on a daily basis. You learn to get used to it after a while. I'm Damian, your oldest brother. My room is right across the hall from yours if you ever need anything."

Colin spoke up from his place melted into Damian's side, "I'm Damian's boyfriend, Colin Wilkes. He told me he was getting a new brother and I just had to come meet you. I'll be around the house a lot, but I'm mainly in Damian's room." There was a slight pause where Wally smiled in their direction and gave a small, cute little wave before Colin continued, "Can I just say that you are the cutest kid I've ever seen. Well, you and Dick are pretty close on the cuteness scale…. Now I don't know which one is cuter!" The last sentence was whined into Damian's shoulder and managed to elicit a bright laugh from Wally.

Damian reflected on that laugh as the other members of the Wayne household (plus Stephanie) introduced themselves. Wally seemed so happy and cheerful when just days ago he was stuck in a rundown orphanage guarding the door to criminal meetings. Bruce had yet to tell them the kid's back story (he always let the newest member tell the story themselves; he says it increases trust), but it had to be hard growing up blind and he was in an orphanage, so something had to have happened to the parents. Damian always wondered how people who have as tragic of lives as Wally, or even Dick, managed to be so happy. The others, Damian himself, Tim, Jason, Cass, they all ended up the quiet, mysterious brooding type. But those two managed to seem to bright and happy and… innocent wasn't the right word, but Damian couldn't think of a better one.

The introductions stuttered to a stop around him and everyone puttered into silence, glancing at each other, unsure about what to do. Damian sighed to himself. You'd think that after so many times getting new siblings that they would be better at this, but they were still as moronic as their first time. Dick was doing better than the rest of them combined and he'd never had to go through this before. The only biological son of Bruce Wayne was willing to sit back and let the awkward moment fester, but apparently Colin had other ideas because he sat up and away from Damian, eliciting a small whine from the superhero that only Colin could hear. Colin smiled back at him before turning to face Wally again, "Hey Wally, how about Dami and I show you to your room?"

Wally's gentle smile turns into something more wicked that Damian was more used to seeing on Dick when he asked the young acrobat where all the pencils in the house went. The kid's voice was downright gleeful when he said, "Dami, huh?"

Dick cackled, causing Wally to start in surprise, turning to a spot pretty close to where Dick was standing. Richard continued, "I wouldn't try it if I were you. Damian doesn't let anyone but Colin call him by a nickname. Apparently he 'doesn't do' nicknames." Dick snickered again, launching himself onto his end of the couch.

Damian glared at his now second youngest brother before turning back to Wally just in time to see the grin disappear. A lower lip jutted out just so replaced it, shoulders hunching up and head lowering, cane moving to rest in a more obvious location as a soft voice asked, "I can't call you Dami?"

Nightwing watched helplessly as Colin practically melted, standing quickly and wrapping Wally in a hug falling to his knees to more comfortably hug him, cooing gently before holding him at arm's length and saying emphatically, "Of course you can call him Dami too, right sweetie?"

Great, Damian thought, now they were both giving him puppy dog looks. He slyly glanced around the room, checking for anyone who would help him. Dick and Roy both had identical expressions of glee that made even him a little scared. Cass was smiling gently at the sight with Stephanie clasping her hands and tearing up again. Tim was staring at the two red heads with an almost analytical expression. Creepy. Jason was smirking at Damian, knowing exactly what was running through his head. Damian just glared back at him. Alfred gave him a look that told him that the butler thought that he had this coming. Bruce was too busy being entranced by his newest son's puppy dog look that he wouldn't be any help. Great. Eventually, Damian muttered, "Tt, fine."

The bright, matching grins that lit up the red heads' faces was enough to make the acquisition worth it – not that he'd ever admit that to anyone. Damian, face set in a neutral expression that he knew Colin could see right through, stood up and strode over to the parlor entrance, snagging Wally's suitcase in one hand and walking towards the stairs. He called over his shoulders, "Come, beloved."

Despite all the grief Wally had already caused with his arrival in the manor (Damian didn't think he'd ever forgive Colin for forcing him into letting Wally use his nickname; then again, he didn't think he was capable of staying mad at Colin), Damian could tell that he was going to love this kid. He hated it, but he couldn't help it. The kid was just too cute. And if anyone ever tried to get him to admit that he liked Wally, they would get a vehement denial and a punch in the face. The glance back at his beloved and his youngest brother showed that they were making it up the stairs just fine. Wally's back was tense, however, and Damian could read the worried lines in his face, showing that the blind child was still just as nervous as he was coming in. This wouldn't just be an ordeal for Damian. The entire Wayne family would have to deal with this newest development.

Something told Damian that none of them would mind it all that much.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The reactions of everyone to the new kid in the house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Damian is 18, Colin is 18, Jason is 17, Tim is 15, Roy is 15, Stephanie is 14, Cass is 13, Dick is 11, and Wally is 9. Boom. There you go. Just in case you were wondering about the ages.

BBBBBB

Bruce could feel Alfred's gaze on him as he walked up the steps of the orphanage and knocked lightly on the door. As he waited for a response, he turned and asked Alfred bluntly, "What?"

"Oh it's nothing, Master Bruce." Great, Alfred was using that tone with him. The tone that made him feel all of ten years old and feeling guilty for breaking another vase. Bruce's withering glare did nothing to deter the forcedly indifferent look his butler had adopted.

Before Bruce or Alfred could continue, the door swung open and a young woman stepped out, flour caking her hair and hands. She looked at him curiously for a second before recognition flashed across her face and her mouth dropped open slightly, unsure how to react. Before the star struck woman could get a word out, another woman, significantly older but no less covered in flour, stepped into view. She whacked the woman on the shoulder, sending a puff of dust in the air before turning back to Bruce and Alfred, "I'm sorry, Mr. Wayne. My daughter here can't seem to mind her manners. Why don't you come on in and wait in here for a second. Sally will go get Wally real quick." Sally, her daughter, nodded quickly and scampered off, throwing one more glance Bruce's way.

"I'm Ashley Adams, by the way. I'm the new head of this orphanage. They decided to get rid of the Catholic title and it's just a regular old orphanage now. We're greatly appreciative of your very charitable donation, by the way, Mr. Wayne. It's going to help the children a lot and I think that we can really get this place up and running again. My daughter and her husband work here part time with a couple of their friends, by the way. We've got a good system going and I hope that you'll visit again sometime and let me know what you think of how much the place's changed. It's going to be spectacular." A warm smile from Ashley did nothing to ease the irritation Bruce was feeling from her rambling. A second later she spoke up again, "What is taking Sally so long? I'm going to go check on them real quick and bring them down myself. You two get comfortable and I'll be right back. If you want something done right, you should do it yourself, am I right?" Bruce forced a laugh and a smile and Mrs. Adams finally left.

Alfred's voice immediately filled the blessed silence, "Are you really sure that adopting this boy was the right decision? Are you trying to get a blind boy into crime fighting now?"

"You didn't see him, Alfred. I knew right away that I could protect him if I adopted him. Besides, I'm not going to let him do crime fighting. There's no way I would put him in that kind of danger." Bruce immediately retorted.

Alfred's slight twist of the lips showed his disapproval, a quiet, "That's what you said for Master Dick, and Mistress Cassandra, and Master Jason, and Master Timothy."

Bruce was prevented from responding by three sets of steps starting down the stairs. Wally tapped his way down first, one hand tapping the stairs with his cane and the other pressed against the wall. Mrs. Adams watched him like a hawk, making sure he didn't hurt himself, while Sally carried Wally's suitcase with her.

Bruce took a moment to study his newest son. He could tell from their first meeting that the kid was intelligent. The Braille science textbook his saw peaking out of the ragged suitcase testified to that further. The billionaire had also been told by interim head of the orphanage that Wally had been recommended to skip several grades in school and was going to go into his eighth grade year at school. Apparently the school he had been attending had a Braille printer that had been used by the teachers to print out all of Wally's school work and he had been in all honors classes. Bruce felt immensely proud of his son despite not having had a proper conversation with him until that day.

He could see the slight turn of Wally's shoulders that indicated nervousness and slight fear. It was only understandable. Bruce had read the case file on Wally's parents and had learned exactly what they had done to him. He was also instrumental in the arrest of George Whitshaker, so he knew that the child didn't have the best track record with parental figures. His biological parents had abused him and blinded him. Father George had used him as a lookout during criminal meetings for two years. Bruce only hope that he could help this poor child learn to stop being afraid.

AAAAAA

Alfred had been left alone with young Wallace while Bruce had to fill out some final paperwork. He had to admit that the boy had a definite aura around him that just made one want to hug and him and make it all better. This was much the same feeling that Alfred had around all of the children Bruce had brought home. Alfred turned to the boy and asked politely, "I am Alfred Pennyworth, your new butler. It is a pleasure to meet you, Master Wallace."

Wallace turned in his direction and attempted a smile, the corners of his lips faltering slightly. He switched the hand he held his cane in and held out his right hand in Alfred's general direction. The elderly butler couldn't help but smile at the sight. The child was obviously trying his hardest to seem normal. He had probably been teased about his lack of eyesight for however long he had the disability. Alfred took the boy's hand, shaking it firmly and was pleased to notice that Wallace's grip was just as firm. Wallace's head ducked and he responded shyly, "It's nice to meet you too, Mr. Pennyworth. You don't have to call me Master Wallace by the way. You can just call me Wally."

Alfred smiled to himself and responded, "Well then, I insist that you simply call me Alfred then, Master Wally." He saw the boy blush and allowed himself another smile. Wally was polite and intelligent and just the right mixture of shy and cheerful that it came off as enduring. Alfred had a feeling that the rest of the family was going to take to Wally as well, if not better, than they took to Master Dick.

The silence started to stretch to an uncomfortable length and Alfred decided to continue the conversation, "What kind of cookies do you prefer, Master Wally? I will make sure to have them ready for you after dinner."

The dumbfounded expression that the young child blessed him with was enough to make the butler silently chuckle. Then Wally's voice broke into the air, so much brighter than Alfred had heard it insofar, "You would do that for me? Really? Er, I mean, you don't have to do that. I, um, couldn't ask you to do that." By the end of his final sentence, Master Wally was practically whispering, foot scuffing the floor gently and face tilted down. Alfred frowned to himself; this submissive behavior that seemed almost… afraid would need to go. He could only assume that Wally had been the victim of abuse at least once in his life for him to act this way.

He answered, his voice gentle, "Of course I would do that for you, Master Wally. It would be my genuine pleasure. You need only inform me of your preference."

Wally's head tilted up as if to peak up at him, but more likely to make sure he heard him correctly, "Really?" A nod confirmed the statement and Wally added hesitantly, "Um, I really like double chocolate chip cookies, but I'll eat any kind really."

The child seemed nervous, as if Alfred would laugh, but the elderly man simply smiled again and said firmly, "Then you shall have your double chocolate chip cookies tonight." Alfred thought to himself that he could definitely understand Bruce's enchantment with this child. Wally would definitely be a good addition to this family.

DDDDDD

To be honest, Dick was nervous about meeting his younger brother. That was why he had forced Roy to tag along. Although, in spite of all of his grumblings, Dick knew that Roy would do anything for him. He wasn't quite sure when the two had become so close. Roy was closer in age to Tim and had met Jason first, so Robin wasn't entirely certain what it was that appealed the archer to him. He was pretty awesome, but not awesome enough to deserve such an amazing friend. At least, he didn't think so anyways. All of his older brothers, his older sister, and Bruce were kind of hard shoes to fill. They were all successful and so amazing and can do whatever they want whenever they wanted. Even Stephanie as Spoiler and Colin as Abuse were super asterous on the field and at home.

Dick didn't get a chance to continue in his self-wallowing as the door opened. Wally looked much better than he did that night four days ago. His fire red hair was shorter if not neater. The several inches of vibrant locks seemed to have a mind of their own, sticking up and lying down at completely random points. Somehow it worked. He had on clean, brand new pair of tan khakis and a nice white button down. Dick had to assume that Alfred had sent him some new clothes. His shoes were nice brown dress shoes and he seemed to be shifted from side to side in them, obviously uncomfortable. Wally introduced himself and Dick didn't waste another second and launched out of the chair. At the last second, he latched onto to Roy's arm and pulled him along. He could tell that he startled the teen by the sudden curse that the archer whispered. Dick held in a giggle, not wanting to embarrass himself in front of his new brother.

Wow, he was really going to be a big brother. He started spewing something about being a big brother and best friends and something about Roy. He was pretty sure that he insulted Jason at some point and made a mental note to apologize, but for right that instant, he was too excited. Dick could see a hint of something mischievous in the set of Wally's shoulders and in the slight curl at the corners of his lips. He also saw a defensive tilt to his stance and a determined furrow of his brow that told the young acrobat that the boy in front of him had been through something horrible and was trying to hold everything in and hold it all on his own shoulders. He knew that look because he used to see it when he looked in the mirror in his first couple of months in the manor. He didn't think it began to go away until he became Robin.

The others introduced themselves as his thoughts whirled. Would he have to keep that fact that he was Robin from his new brother? He really didn't want to! Dick bit his lip as he realized that this could drive a wedge between the rest of the family and Wally. Everyone else was a superhero and he obviously couldn't become one. He would have to sit on the sidelines and worry while the rest of his family was out fighting crime and getting hurt and throwing themselves head first into dangerous situations. He knew the feeling because that was how he had felt in the time between finding out Batman's secret identity and going out as Robin the first time too.

The thing was, though, that he knew that he was going to become Robin and get to go out and fight crime. Wally didn't have that cushion to fall on though. Richard was pulled back into the conversation when he heard the most gleefully sinister tone come from his new adopted brother as he asked, "Dami, huh?"

Dick couldn't help the cackle that came out. It was the one that struck fear into the hearts of criminals and would probably scar Wally, but Dick was just happy that he had pegged the kid right. He was just as wickedly impish as Dick wanted him to be. Richard continued after his laugh, "I wouldn't try it if I were you. Damian doesn't let anyone but Colin call him by a nickname. Apparently he 'doesn't do' nicknames." Dick then watched with barely hidden glee at the puppy dog face that Wally made. Dick could help him form a better one, but this was pretty good. Coupled with Colin's puppy dog face, Dick knew that Damian would give in. This was going to be perfect. He could tell now that what he said was true; they really were going to be best friends.

They would share everything with each other and hang out all the time and help each other out when the time came. He would train the youngest Wayne to become the perfect pranking machine. The two of them – no, the three of them, he couldn't forget Roy – were going to be force of destruction raining down on the Wayne household and it was going to help everyone lighten up more. They would be the light in the Bat Clan.

RRRRRR

Roy slightly regretted coming to this. He was completely bored and he couldn't even clean/sharpen his arrows like he normally did when he was bored because as of right then, Wally didn't know that any of them were superheroes. Roy sighed again, but realized that he wouldn't have missed coming to this for the world because Dick was practically vibrating with nervousness next to him. Damian had even forcibly sent Dick to Oliver's flat because he was getting so annoyed with the rants about his 'new little brother'. They would have been more adorable and less annoying if he hadn't had so little information to talk about. All he knew was the kid's name and how he met him. Roy had skimmed some more information about the orphanage Robin used to stay at, so that was a plus, but overall he was generally annoyed.

Then the door opened and Roy realized that this kid wasn't going to be a complete pushover like he thought. He knew the kid was blind (he had only heard it a thousand times), but he still wasn't quite prepared for the way he never really looked in the right direction. He was always close, but just a little off. Roy wondered idly if he'd been blind his whole life or not and figured that he and Robin were going to have to find a way to get those glasses off once the kid warmed up to them.

Roy wasn't an idiot and he wasn't completely oblivious to what other people were feeling; he just chose to ignore it most of the time. He could tell, however, that Wally was drowning in nervousness. It made him wonder what his life was like before this. The only thing he, or any of the other kids really, knew about him was that he was blind and went to a corrupt Catholic orphanage. They literally knew nothing else. Roy wasn't even sure what the kid's last name was. As far as he could tell from Dick's ramblings, the kid was nine years old.

Speedy sighed to himself as he realized that Oliver was going to make some sort of comment about how his only friends were little children and how creepy that was. Oh well, Roy would just make a comment about him and Dinah's relationship (hopefully when Dinah wasn't present). Watching the delight that lit up Dick's features and the relaxation that spread across Wally's face when the two talked made Roy realize that he would be seeing a lot of the blind kid and all he could think was that maybe that wasn't such a bad thing.

JJJJJJ

Jason tilted his head when Wally walked in. He really didn't want to deal with another obnoxious brat that he had to watch his language around and who he couldn't smoke around or make lewd comments about women (or men, really; he wasn't picky).

But when Jason saw Wally interacting with the others, he realized that the kid wasn't so bad after all. He had potential. Jason could see it now. This was the perfect kid to groom into the ultimate wing man. Anyone who had a blind kid with them instantly became a chic magnet. Apparently it makes you seem more appealing or something. He would make sure to train up Wally's sweet side and work on developing his flirting skills.

Jason grinned to himself; maybe it wouldn't hurt him to spend more time hanging around the manor if this kid was going to make the place better.

TTTTTT

Tim didn't like this. Well, he liked the fact that Stephanie was sitting all pretty in his lap, but he didn't like this. He didn't want another brother. He didn't like the ones he had. They were annoying and rude and generally unintelligent fools. Yes, Dick was at some points intelligent but he dedicated too much of that intelligence to pranking people. Some of his siblings were bearable, but others (cough Jason cough) made him want to bang his head against the wall for hours at a time. They drove him crazy so how was this kid going to be any better! Besides, he was technically a criminal! Aiding criminals and obstructing justice is a criminal offense and yet, instead of being reprimanded and sent to juvie or something, he was given the life of a billionaire's son. Wasn't Batman all about justice? How was this justice?

Then Tim froze because he couldn't have seen what he thought he just saw. Wait, he saw it again! There, peeking out of the corner of Wally's suitcase was a textbook with a title in Braille that, even if he could read Braille, he wouldn't be able to read it from this distance. On the cover, though, there was a raised skeleton with lines leading to the names of various bones. It didn't even look like a child's textbook! That had to mean that he was smart. Or, at least, he wanted to become smart. He was a nine year old reading about anatomy! Red Robin started to get excited and introduced himself in a much more chipper manner than usual because he finally had someone intelligent to talk to. Sure, he was a couple of years younger, but Tim would groom him into a little genius.

CCCCCC

Cass was excited to meet her new brother. She didn't really mind another guy coming to live with them. Stephanie's friendship and Alfred's constant understanding was all she needed in that regard. Besides, she wanted to see if she could read his body language as well as she could the others. The rest of the family knew her as the quiet one who relied on actions as opposed to words and they were right. Hopefully Wally would understand her and hopefully she could make a great friend out of him. She just had this feeling that they would get along great and she hoped that her feeling wouldn't fail her this time. She'd make a great listener out of him if it killed her.

SSSSSS

Stephanie was really there just to stay with Tim. She was glad they were dating again. The reason they had broken up last time had been completely ridiculous and she was devastated. Cass was there too, so that was great. It was always nice hanging out with the generally reserved girl. Stephanie could get her to do some crazy things during sleepovers and it was amazing. She wondered if Wally was going to be the kind of guy who would braid girl's hair if they asked, or watch movies with them and paint their nails.

Stephanie had had a friend like that once. He was amazing. He totally did it just because he was a complete sweetie who would do anything for his girlfriend. On second thought, though, Wally couldn't watch movies with them. He probably couldn't paint their nails without eyesight either. Stephanie mentally shrugged to herself; she would find something that he could do that would be super sweet and adorable. The door opened as she was making plans to turn him into a dream boyfriend. She had to literally suppress her squeal of delight. He was the cutest thing ever! No offense to her wonderful boyfriend, but this one was a keeper. Any girl who got him as their bae was going to be in heaven. If he wasn't so much younger than her, she would have dumped Tim for him right away (not really, but it felt like it in the moment). Well, Stephanie thought to herself, it won't be hard to make that into perfect boyfriend material.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jason's a sweet heart for the first time ever and Wally lets out a little secret.

WWWWWW

Wally sighed in relief as he shut the door to his new room (his very own room; he hadn't had a room bursting with kids for two years). He could tell that everyone was nice, but he was still so nervous! He wasn't entirely certain what family really was, if he was honest. He knew that family wasn't supposed to hurt each other like his parents hurt him and he knew that families were supposed to stick together unlike him and the other children at the orphanage. Other than that, he knew nothing and that scared him. He was the smart kid. He was a nine year old in eighth grade and he didn't even know what a family was! Although, he had always done better with chemicals and elaborate physics problems than he was with people, so maybe it wasn't so surprising. School hadn't been any better that it was when he was in Blue Valley and trying to hide the proof of his parent's abuse. Here, he was pushed over in the hallway, papers scattering on the floor so he couldn't find them. No one would help; only laugh. People would make him do their homework, even taking the time to read the questions out loud to him so he could do it for them. He was bullied for being a nerd and bullied for being blind and bullied for being a nine year old in eighth grade and bullied for being so weak.

Some days he really wished that he could just punch them in the face with a tiny bit of speed thrown into the punch. There would be enough speed to show them that he was strong, but not enough to start blaming supernatural abilities. The bullies wouldn't get seriously hurt and they likely wouldn't tell any teachers because getting beat up by a blind kid was just plain embarrassing. But, Wally knew that he was, somehow, a good kid still and he would never punch someone unless it was in self defense.

Wally pondered on that thought as he started to feel around the room, starting with the bed. He had super speed and enhanced senses, surely he could make those things work together enough for him to fight crime as a… dare he say it, super hero. He had worked on walking without a cane and eventually running at normal speed without his walking stick and, well he was getting better, but he wasn't there yet. He had definitely improved his ability to tell what type of weapon people were carrying and he could get their general specs from standing downwind of them, but he was still having problems with aim. No matter what, he couldn't seem to hit at just the right spot and he was worried that if he ever tried to throw something at someone, he would hit the wrong spot and kill them or completely miss and put himself in danger. Wally's eyebrows scrunched together as he felt the material beneath his fingers. It was softer than anything he had felt before, especially on a bed. His fingers rubbed over it a few more times before he wrenched his hands away with a start. This was silk! His bed literally had silk sheets! He knew that Bruce Wayne was rich and he knew had understood and accepted the fact that he was going to be living with a billionaire, but this was on a whole different plane. The best sheets Wally had slept on had been his dull, cheap, gray sheets from when he still lived with his parents.

The speedster was broken from his musings when there was a knock on the door. He called out that the door was open and whoever it was could come in. A hesitant body slipped into the room, standing at the door, probably looking around and noticing that his suitcase was still unpacked, but he wasn't certain. Finally, Tim's voice commented easily, "Alfred will probably bring you shopping sometime soon to get things more to your taste in your room. Well, if you want to, of course. If you don't want to, then you don't have to obviously." There was a sigh as Wally simply raised an eyebrow in amusement (he wasn't even sure if people could see his eyebrow through his glasses; this would require further thought) and then Tim continued, "What I meant to say is that I noticed that you had an anatomy textbook in your suitcase. Are you interested in science?"

Wally froze; was his new brother really asking him if he liked science? Would Tim hate him for ranting about how much he loved balancing equations and doing titrations, or was he interested in science too? Wally spoke hesitantly, moving slightly towards his well worn textbook as he talked, as if it would protect him with the knowledge it provided, "Yeah, I love science, actually. I'm more interested in chemistry than anatomy, but both are completely fascinating. I-," Wally cut himself off. He hadn't actually told anyone that before.

Tim, however, insisted, "You what? You can tell me you know, since we're brothers and all." He sounded vaguely uncomfortable saying that and Wally had to suppress a giggle before what he said really sunk in. Maybe he should tell him? Family told each other things, right?

Wally wasn't sure, so he told him; a decision he regretted immediately afterwards, "I really want to be a forensic scientist when I grow up." The words were thrown out in a rush and Wally bit his lip, silently berating himself for being so stupid. Why would he tell him that? Now Tim was going to laugh at him and call him stupid and point out all of the holes in Wally's wish and Wally wasn't sure that he could take another family that hated him and thought he was stupid and silly and some worthless little kid that-

"That's actually pretty cool! I just wanted to know if you liked science. I'm actually pretty interested in it myself, but more towards the engineering side of things. I like to build stuff and do code and all that. Maybe someday I could, um, teach you something about it, or… something." Tim's response cut off Wally's inner monologue and for a second, all he could do was gape in his older brother's direction.

He finally squeaked out, "You think it's cool? You don't think it's stupid that someone who's blind would try to become a forensic scientist?"

Tim scoffed, answering, "Of course I think it's cool. And why would being blind matter. If anything, it makes your dream all the more… cool. It means that once you achieve it, you'll have had to work harder than others and you'll have earned the position more than anyone else." There was a momentary pause before Tim's tone darkened and he continued, "Did someone tell you that your dream was stupid? Because whoever it was, Bruce can make his or her life miserable. That'll show that no one messes with a Wayne."

No one messes with a Wayne. He had already been accepted into this family. Somehow, the people here actually liked him, something he had never been used to. The only person he ever remembered liking him was Linda and she was a distant part of his past now. He hadn't talked to her in two years. But now, at that moment, there was a whole family of people who would apparently be willing to ruin someone's life over a presumed slight to Wally's dreams. Colin had babbled to Wally and hugged him and held his hand as they walked and Damian had agreed to let Wally call him Dami even though he apparently didn't let anyone do that and Dick had told him that they would be best friends and that Wally was his favorite brother and now Tim was saying that he liked science too and he didn't think that Wally was stupid.

Wally realized that the silence had stretched long enough to be considered uncomfortable and he cleared his throat slightly, trying to ignore the prickling sensation at his tear ducts (his tear ducts had somehow managed to stay undamaged, unlike the rest of his eyes, so he could still cry; he wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not). He managed to say quietly, "It's no big deal, but thank you for the offer."

Tim's feet shuffled on the carpet slightly and then he gave a small, awkward laugh before saying, "Heh, I, uh, just nodded by the way. So, yeah, no problem. Alfred will call you down when it's dinner time. Actually, since you don't know where the dining room is, he'll probably send someone up to get you. Roy, Colin, and Steph will be gone by then. Bruce wanted this to be a family only dinner kind of thing. So, um, I'll see you… later." Tim's footsteps receded into the distance after Wally gave a little wave and Wally wondered if Tim was that awkward around everyone, or just him. Maybe it would go away with time? Wally hoped so because Tim's awkwardness was making him feel awkward.

Wally went back to feeling around his room, finding the furniture and even the frame of a picture at one point. He gathered that the left hand wall held a huge bed (with silk sheets) pretty much centered and a large corner desk on one side with an ornate end table sitting on the other side of the bed. There was a large chest with what felt like an iron key in the lock pushed up against his bed. The right hand wall was entirely made of bookshelves except for a large opening that sported the double doors to his closet (the closet itself was bigger than the four boy room at the orphanage, not that the four child room had been pretty big to begin with). His back wall had, obviously, one side of the corner desk, and the opening to his bathroom, which was bigger than his closet (somehow). The rest of the wall was empty space. Towards the front of his room and close to the bookshelves was a large beanbag chair that, when Wally tried sitting in it, he felt like he could stay forever in and never have to get up ever again.

The child sighed to himself, feeling as if he was in a dream and would wake up at any moment. He was about to start putting his meager belongings away (his proud collection of textbooks was starting to feel a little less special compared to all of the space on the bookshelves and Wally felt like he would have to put other things there, like souvenirs or something) when he heard a pair of steps slouching up the stairs. He felt the vibrations in the floor as whoever it was walked towards his room. He listened to the way the footsteps fell and with how much force they fell and he tilted his head towards the door, trying to figure out who it was before they got to the door. It was a little game he had played when he was bored at the orphanage. It had to be one of the older brothers because it was much too heavy to be Dick's or even Roy's or Tim's. The way the footsteps fell told Wally that it was definitely a male because women stepped differently. Wally thought to himself that the entire family had ridiculously light footsteps in the first place. It was slightly disconcerting.

Wally mentally shook himself. The person was almost to the door and he hadn't guessed who it was yet! The footsteps didn't even pause as they passed Damian's room, which Wally had found people did. They would pause and check their rooms when they passed it, but that didn't matter because Wally had gotten the final clue he needed. It had to be Jason out there!

Jason (at least, he was pretty sure it was Jason) opened the door without knocking and saw Wally standing there, face tilted towards the door, an intense expression of concentration on his face. Wally's face became lightly dusted with pink as he realized how lame he must have looked at that moment. Jason didn't say anything or move for a second, before he started to trek in the direction of Wally's bed. For a moment, Wally was confused; was Jason going to lie down in Wally's bed? Was that normal?

Instead, however, Jason grabbed Wally's suitcase and started spreading things out on the bed. Jason's voice growled out quickly, "If you ever tell anyone that I helped you unpack, I'll gut you, got it?"

It took a second for Wally to connect the slight caring undertone and his brother's violent words. They didn't match up and Wally couldn't use body language to help him, but then he got it. Jason cared about him just like the rest of the family, but didn't want his image ruined! There were some kids like that in school that would tease him and bully him like the other jocks, but when it was just him and the kid, they would help him out and then threaten to beat him up if he ever told anyone. Wally smiled brightly at where he hoped Jason was still standing and chirped cheerfully, "Got it!" There was a pause where Wally got the strangest feeling that Jason was smiling, at least a little bit, before Wally spoke again, this time with a tinge of concern in his voice, "Um, but, where are you putting my things?"

Jason paused in his movements. Apparently it hadn't occurred to him either that putting away Wally's things wouldn't help him if he couldn't see where he put them. So Jason walked over to Wally and put a hand on the kid's back, leading him to where he remembered the desk was. Jason ran Wally's hand over a glossy smooth surface, letting it hit a piece of tape and keep running onto hard wood. He did this three more times and Wally realized that Jason had taped up all his pictures of him and Linda. The blind child smiled brightly to tell Jason that his point had been reached and Jason simply moved them back to the suitcase.

For the next hour, the two of them continued on like that. Jason would move one of Wally's things to a certain part of the room and then he would walk Wally to that spot, moving his hand over the object and the surrounding area to make sure he got a good idea of where everything was in relation to each other. Wally couldn't help the smile that split across his face every time Jason did it and eventually Jason started taking it as Wally saying that he understood where the thing was.

They would talk a little bit while they were working on the process. Jason would mention some hot chic he had apparently met and Wally would ask questions about her until either he ran out of questions or Jason ran out of answers. There would be comfortable silence for a while until Jason would bring up some hot dude. The questions would commence again and they fell into a rhythm. Jason had just finished letting Wally feel where his suitcase had been put away when Damian called from in front of Wally's door, saying that it was time for dinner and he was supposed to lead Wally to the dining room. Jason whispered in Wally's ear just before they opened the door and stepped outside, "Remember, no one can know that I was helping you, got it?" Wally had just nodded and flashed him a brilliant smile. He could have sworn that he heard Jason huff a laugh afterwards.

DDDDDD

Damian made sure to smirk at Jason as the teen came out of Wally's room. He knew exactly what Jason had been doing in there and even though Colin had cooed over it, he felt a little apprehensive (not nervous, never nervous) about the fact that Wally was an impressionable child and Todd could easily be corrupting the poor innocent kid. Todd simply glared back at him, face tingeing just slightly pink and Damian knew that he had gotten his point across. He heard Colin snicker behind him at the interaction and the blush on Todd's face only became more prominent. Wally's head simply tilted to the side, presumably attempting to understand the reason behind Colin's laugh.

Colin eventually took Wally's hand, walking him down the main staircase and saying goodbye. Damian gave his boyfriend a small peck on the lips and said, "Goodbye, beloved," before placing his fingertips on Wally's back and leading him towards the dining room. Todd had left them behind a while ago.

They finally reached the dining room and Damian could practically feel the child vibrating under his fingertips. Damian couldn't honestly say he was much different when he had first smelt Alfred's cooking. Not that he would ever admit that to anyone. Nor would he admit the fact that he believed Alfred to be a godsend that kept the entire family at least partially sane. The man had an endless reserve of patience and wisdom that even the former assassin couldn't deny was useful.

Wally bounced away and then paused near the dining table. Nightwing suddenly realized that Wally didn't know which seats were occupied or reserved for certain family members. Before he could rectify that, however, Dick bounded into the room and latched onto Wally's arm, dragging him to the side of the table where another chair had been added. He sat Wally down next to him and immediately started babbling about whatever mindless thing he and Roy had done that day. He started asking him about his room and after a few stumbling sentences, Wally built up the courage to have a fully functioning conversation with Grayson. Soon the two of them were chattering like they had known each other their entire lives and it seemed as if the newest Wayne had completely forgotten the food.

Todd soon slouched in from wherever he had been sulking, Tim soon following suit. Cass lightly swept her way in with Bruce at her side. Finally, everyone was seated. The family reached out and plopped their favorited onto their plates, Dick getting Wally a helping of everything he got himself and more. Damian was starting to become concerned about overfeeding the child, but then he saw the red head start shoveling the food into his mouth like it was the last meal he would ever eat. Wally somehow managed to make it not look as if he was a pig eating its slop, but it was a close thing. Damian figured that the only thing stopping him from going all out was the fact that he was, essentially, surrounded by strangers.

There was a long moment of silence as everyone at their meals peacefully, but then the silence was broken by Wally's tentative voice, "Um, I just… I don't know how to say this, but… I just wanted to, um, let you guys know that, um, I know that you guys are actually Batman and his superhero partners." The last bit was rushed, but Damian caught it well enough. Wally knew.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dick makes the best older brother ever and sometimes Damian should just stop talking.

BBBBBB

Bruce almost choked on his milk he was so surprised. Inwardly he was frantically running through everything they had said and done around the child for him to have found out. Bruce had been planning on gently easing the child into the idea that his siblings and new father were superheroes! Outwardly, however, Bruce maintained a calm façade. He could tell that his children were all looking at him, not sure how to react. Wally had his head tilted towards the ground and his shoulders hunched together like he expected someone to hit him. That struck a nerve with Bruce; he knew as much about Wally's past as whomever had written the police report knew. He knew that Wally's father had blinded him and that there was apparently an injury on his chest that was quite serious. According to the reports, there was also an extensive history of abuse scrawled across the boy's chest. Wally had admitted to the police that his mother would watch while his father beat him and it made Bruce's blood boil. How could someone do such a thing to such a sweet, innocent child?

When Bruce finally got the peace of mind to speak, his voice was gentle and soothing (so very different from his Batman voice), "Why would you think that, Wally?"

Wally's head came up to face Batman and tilted to the side, his brows furrowing in an almost angry expression, "I know that because I can hear you. When someone loses one of their senses, the others four senses are increased. You walk lighter when you're being a superhero, but you have the same step patterns and I can still smell a hint of gunpowder on Jason. Plus, even though you lower your voice and make it gruffer when you're Batman, you still have the same voice and I can hear the similarities. Plus, when you all were there last night, there was an air conditioner blowing behind you and I could feel the disturbances in the air flow where you guys were standing in front of it and that gives me a pretty good idea of your heights and general dimensions and Damian stood in front of an air conditioner at one point today and his dimensions were identical to one of the superheroes from that night." Wally's voice had become increasingly more confident as he moved through his explanations until his apparent confidence wavered a little and he became almost… fearful by the end of his monologue.

The others stared at Wally, disbelief coloring their countenances. Bruce could tell that they were all thinking the same thing: how was that possible? Bruce had, of course, heard about the increase in other senses after loss of one, but still, Wally would have had to train himself to be that good. Bruce thought over his words and winced as he remembered the beginning of the child's statement. Apparently he was offended that Bruce would try to insinuate that he was mistaken. After a moment's deliberation, Bruce responded, "I'm impressed. Well, you are correct. We are Gotham's own superheroes. I'm sure if you have any questions you'd like to ask that the others would answer."

Now the other children were staring at Bruce with disbelief. Batman could tell that some of them were horrified that he had told Wally about the family secret, but some, such as Dick, seemed excited that Wally knew. The blind Wayne's voice broke Bruce's train of thought, "Um, I would like to know who's who?" The statement ended up sounding like a question and Bruce smiled to himself before gesturing that the others should introduce themselves.

"I'm Robin!" Dick announced cheerfully, "I'm so glad that you know that we're superheroes!"

Damian looked between Wally and Bruce a few times before his lips settled into a frown and he answered moodily, "Nightwing." The billionaire knew that it would be at least a week before his only biological son would speak to him civilly again.

"I'm Batgirl," came Cass's quiet reply.

Wally smiled in her general direction and it seemed to melt away some of Tim's earlier apprehension because he answered confidently, "I am Red Robin."

Jason's answer came promptly after that, "I'm Red Hood." Bruce could have sworn that he saw his most troublesome son send his newest son a worried glance before glaring at his food. As Bruce continued to watch Jason, he looked up and glared straight at his father. Bruce got the message loud and clear: if anything happened to this kid because he got adopted into the Wayne family, there would be consequences. Bruce wasn't sure when Jason had grown such an attachment to the child, but he nodded anyways to show that he got the point. Jason simply went back to glaring at his food.

Bruce spoke next, "You already know that I'm Batman." Wally nodded and the next few minutes were spent in silence.

After a long moment, Dick turned slightly in his chair and asked Wally, "So, I don't actually know what your last name is. The rest of us have our original last name hyphenated with the name Wayne, so, I'm Dick Grayson-Wayne. What's yours?"

Wally tilted his head back up to Dick and then turned it slightly in the direction of Bruce, as if he was nervous about speaking without permission. After a second, Wally answered albeit tentatively, "West-Wayne."

"That's amazing!" Dick cried out, smiling hugely even though he knew Wally couldn't see it, "You're name's like one of those things, um, one of those lit terms. I feel like it starts with an… m?"

"Alliteration," Tim stated dully as if he had to do such things on a daily basis.

"Yeah! An alliteration because you've got the three w's. Wally, West, and Wayne! That's super cool!" Dick continued. Wally smiled shyly back at the slightly older boy and it was like a spell breaking as Cass murmured quietly about how she thought it was cool too. With every little comment one of the children would say, Wally's shy smile would become a little more prominent and a little brighter.

Eventually, Alfred swept into the room and shepherded the kids to the kitchen where a warm batch of double chocolate chip cookies were waiting. Bruce just caught a, "You actually made them!" come from Wally before the group swept around the corner, Wally's bright red cane the last thing he saw.

Bruce turned in his chair to see that Damian was still waiting there for him, just as he thought he would be. "Well?" Bruce sighed, knowing that this could only go badly.

Damian glared at him, blue eyes full of righteous anger and the arrogant attitude that he could never grow out of, not after years growing up with the knowledge that he was the grandson of the great Ra's al Ghul and the son of the Dark Knight. His voice was low and feral when he finally spoke (Batman had been expecting this; he'd had the argument with Damian each time when Jason, then Tim, then Cass, then Dick found out about their nighttime activities), "He's just a child Father! He does not need the relentless stress of worrying whether his family will still be alive when morning comes!"

"You think I don't know that, Damian? He would have found out eventually and there was no way I could convince him that he was wrong. There is no other way tonight could have played out." Bruce ground out. All he really wanted to do was go out on his patrol and then go to bed because he needed some sleep after the excitement of a new child in the household.

Damian, however, didn't seem to feel the same because he continued, growling, "You never really think about other people when you do this, do you? You see someone who has obviously had a difficult life and decide to make their lives more difficult by bringing them into this dysfunctional family!"

"My children are happy here! We've had our rough patches here and there, but they all at least enjoy their lives!" Bruce shouted back.

"Rough patches? Rough… rough patches?!" Damian yelled in response, "You think that Robin getting beat almost to death by Two-Face was a rough patch? You think that Jason dying and being brought back from the dead was a rough patch? You think-,"

"Enough!" Batman yelled, chair falling over and resulting in a crash as he stood and faced his son. "Wally figured out our identities sooner than was intended. He is a Wayne now and he is part of the family. I don't see where the problem is!"

Damian snarled back, "Maybe we wouldn't have a problem at all if you just hadn't adopted Wally!"

WWWWWW

"You actually made them!" Wally exclaimed brightly. No one had ever gone out of their way for him before, except maybe Linda when he still talked to her and Lizzy when the therapist was still alive.

Alfred chuckled softly before lifting his head at the sound of whooping coming from where Wally presumed the kitchen was. He sighed before commenting gently (everything the butler did seemed precise and gentle and planned in an orderly fashion), "Of course I did, Master Wally. If you may stay here for a moment, I will make sure that the others do not eat all of the cookies. I will be back to lead you to the kitchen in just a moment." Wally nodded obediently and Alfred's steps faded away at an alarmingly quick pace. From the force of the steps, Wally knew he was walking, but he was still going very quickly. It was actually kind of impressive.

Wally stayed there for a moment, listening to the sounds that came from the kitchen further down the stairs. He heard Jason and Tim snarl at each other before the sound of someone (probably Alfred) hitting the two on the back of the heads could be heard. The sound of Dick flipping onto the counter (it sounded like feet hitting granite, anyways; Wally could only assume that was what he had heard) was accentuated by another whack to the back of a head and a pained whimper from Dick. There were the sounds of Cass shuffling around the room and the clinking of plates. As Wally listened, however, there were no sounds of Dami or Bruce. That must mean that they were still in the dining room!

He made a move to go back to get them (he had the route memorized: go back up the stairs and take a left and pass one open doorway on the right before the dining room is reached), but then paused. Would they be annoyed that he wanted to go and talk to them? Was there a specific reason that they didn't come with the others? Wally worried his lip between his teeth for a moment before deciding that he would just wait here for Alfred. Then he heard shouting coming from the dining room. His eyes widened and he instinctively flinched. The only times he had heard people shouting, he had gotten hurt, or someone else did at least. At home, it was only his dad who shouted and he normally did that while he was beating Wally or trying to find Wally to beat him. At the orphanage, when the other kids shouted, it normally meant that there was fight going on that always managed to hurt other kids who were sitting peacefully on the sidelines and when Father Gregory shouted, he was going after a kid for disobeying him and no one wanted to be near him when he was mad. Before Wally could do anything (he wasn't sure what he would have done anyways), Alfred came back, eyes flicking to the ceiling as if his disapproving glance could somehow be communicated to the two occupants of the room.

Alfred softly touched Wally's arm, eliciting a jump out of the high strung boy. Alfred moved his hand down to Wally's hand and grabbed it lightly, saying, "Why don't we go get those cookies, yes?"

Wally was about to nod when he heard a crash come from upstairs. His head whipped up and he was immediately running up the stairs as fast as his legs would take him keeping in mind that these were stairs and he couldn't see and Alfred couldn't know about his super speed. All in all, Wally got up faster than he thought he would with only a few trips that he caught himself on. He could hear Alfred close behind him, but he didn't care. His new family could be hurt and even though they were yelling and seemed upset and there was a possibility that they would hurt him, he didn't want them to be hurt! So Wally stumbled around the corner, bright red walking stick pulled up and out of the way of his legs, and lightly tumbled past the first doorway, stopping in front of the dining room archway with the question of whether everyone was alright already on his lips. He was prevented from speaking, however when he heard Damian's voice snarl out, "Maybe we wouldn't have a problem at all if you just hadn't adopted Wally!"

The blind child felt Alfred, who had just managed to catch up, stiffen in surprise behind him, coming to an abrupt stop. He heard the argument taper off in the dining room and presumed that the two had just caught sight of Wally. He couldn't move; couldn't breathe. He should have known better. He should have… he should have… done something else. Anything other than being lulled into this false sense of happiness and acceptance. The other kids at the orphanage had always told him that Gotham was a cruel place and that there wasn't a single person in the city who was truly good. His father had always told him that no one would love him. No one would ever accept him. So Wally did the only thing he could think of; he ran.

His eyesight and the cane prevented him from going as fast as he would have liked, but he didn't have stairs to hinder him this time and he had the element of surprise. His thoughts, running as fast as his legs could carry him if he could see, threw together a rough map of the mansion based on where he had been so far. He took a right and kept running, trusting his memory to find the way out of this place that was no different from any other place he had ever been in.

Soon, his fingers felt the smooth wood of a lacquered door and he fumbled with the handle, hastily moving his hands to pull open the lock before going for the handle again. He could hear Damian and Bruce getting closer and he didn't want to be near them. He would find a way to come back and get his textbooks later because science was his only true friend in life. Science would never fail him. Just then, the door opened and he was free!

Wally ran like he had never run before. He tripped twice, flinging himself back to his feet as soon as he was able. He waved his cane in front of him, switching paths if it glanced off of anything. He needed to get away from there. He needed to get somewhere, somewhere else. Bruce's frantic call of, "Wally!" only pushed him to run faster. Soon, he couldn't hear the manor anymore. He just heard the sounds of trees and birds and small mice moving in the undergrowth. His running tapered off and he started to stumble along something vaguely reminiscent of a path, pausing repeatedly to untangle an article of clothing, or his cane.

Eventually, his cane hit something large and solid and he moved to the side, tracing the edge of the thing. It was huge! The diameter had to be larger than five men standing shoulder to shoulder. Hesitant fingers reached out and touched it, feeling along the rough edges and the uneven pattern. It was bark. This huge thing was a tree!

Wally's fingers reached as high as they could and he used his other hand to guide him around the base of the tree. He wasn't even conscious of what he was doing until his fingers brushed a branch and he was pulling himself up. Wally gasped as he momentarily overshot, almost falling over the other end of the branch. When he finally regained balance, he stood up, testing the strength of the branch before reaching out for anything else. He continued this pattern, pulling himself further up and up into the tree until he could feel the night time wind unobstructed by other trees. He tilted his head up, reveling in the blessed silence that comes from not being near so many other people. Humans were so noisy, hearts pounding, stomachs digesting, always talking so loud with all of their loud, so very loud, devices playing all the time. Here in this forest the only noises were the quiet sounds of the night life of animals, their heartbeats only soft sounds coming from far below him, so quiet it was more like a lulling song than a jarring cacophony. Wally found another branch and settled his walking stick in a crick of the branch, the bottom resting on the same branch as him.

He inched backwards and leaned against the trunk of this magnificent tree, all the tension slipping from his shoulders as he realized that he was finally away. There was nothing here, no secrets. None of the creatures here in this forest cared if he was blind or smart or small or red haired. The tree didn't hate him for his super speed. No one was getting into arguments over him. Everything worked in tandem and he felt at peace for the first time in his life. It was beautiful.

Before long, his consciousness slowly slipped away and he slept, the tree cocooning him like a safety blanket. He knew he wouldn't fall.

DDDDDD

Dick was… angry wasn't a good enough word. Even he couldn't make up a word powerful enough to explain what he was feeling. He had never been truly angry at any of his brothers before, but this time Damian had gone too far. Dick and the others had heard Bruce, Damian, and Alfred running around on the floor above them and had rushed up to investigate. When they had gotten outside to where Bruce and Damian were frantically looking around the manor grounds, Damian had hesitantly explained what had occurred.

Before Dick's eldest brother could defend himself, Jason had punched him in the face, leaving the former assassin with a nasty shiner already forming. Dick didn't say anything because he secretly wished that he could have been the one to punch him. What did Damian think he was doing saying something like that! And now they had no idea where Wally was! How did that even happen? Tim had voiced his thoughts exactly when he had shouted, "How does a blind kid who's shorter than Grayson outrun you?"

Tensions were running high and Dick had to take a moment to realize how much the youngest Wayne had affected this family in the short time he had been here. Eventually, Bruce had suggested, voice tight with worry and fear and anger and concern, "Why don't we split up into groups of two? Jason with Cass. Tim with me. Damian, go with Dick. Find Wally and bring him home."

The groups had separated, Dick inwardly seething at who his partner was. True, he hadn't seen Damian look this genuinely remorseful about something since he accidently made Colin cry, but that didn't immediately absolve him. Their trek through a certain sector of the woods near the manor was silent with Damian sending innocuous glances in Dick's direction every once in a while, probably trying to judge the normally jubilant child's mood.

Robin was about to snap at his eldest brother to stop doing that, but Damian stopped abruptly and bent towards a thorn patch that was between their path and another path. Dick reluctantly asked, "What did you find?"

Damian held up a small button with thread still attached that had gotten tangled in the thorn patch. It was the same type of button that was on the shirt Wally was wearing. Dick nodded at him and picked up his speed, moving faster down the path that was on the other side of the thorns, eyes dragging over it to see if he could find more evidence that Wally had been there. Damian jogged beside him.

Dick could see where Wally's cane had dragged over the leaves and dirt and the footprints that followed behind the cane's marks. He winced to himself, he hadn't even thought about the fact that Wally was still barefoot. His feet must be torn up by now. Dick kept going, noticing a patch where Wally must have tripped and fell. There were a few strands of red hair caught in a low hanging branch in front of them and Dick kept going, determined to find his little brother and convince him to come home.

Suddenly, Dick and Damian came to a clearing of sorts. There weren't any trees for a couple of yards around a huge tree in the center. Wally's footprints travelled up to the tree and then around it before disappearing. Damian cursed in Arabic behind Dick, but the young acrobat ignored him, knowing where he would have gone if he were in Wally's shoes, blind or not. Looking up, Dick saw something bright red resting on two branches near the top of the tree. He blanched slightly. Wally was that high up?! Was he crazy?! For Dick, that climb up and, subsequently, climb down wouldn't be any problem, but he could see and he was raised to be an acrobat in the circus practically from birth.

Without a second thought, Dick began the trek up the tree. As an afterthought, he called down to Damian, "Stay here! I'm not sure he'll want to see, er, hear you right now." The former assassin's face crumpled ever so slightly, but he nodded anyways. Dick nodded back and continued to move up the tree. He would get Wally to come back if it was the last thing he did!

Almost five minutes later, Dick was crouched on the end of the branch Wally was on. The younger boy was nestled peacefully in a small cocoon of branches, head lolled back and a small smile playing on his lips. Dick couldn't find it in himself to wake the younger boy up when he looked so happy. He couldn't ignore the drying tear tracks on his face either.

It was almost ten minutes later when an owl hooted particularly close to the place where the two youngest Wayne's sat. Wally sat up quickly, reaching out and latching onto two of the surrounding branches when he felt his balance shift quickly. Dick watched as his head swiveled for a moment before he seemed to start, moving his head in Dick's direction. Robin hadn't thought that he had made a noise, but apparently he had since Wally had known who was there. Wally asked, a tinge of fear coloring his tone, "Who are you?"

Richard answered slowly, carefully, "It's Dick. I'm here to take you home."

Apparently that was the wrong thing to say because Wally's face shut down immediately and he faced his head away, saying quietly, "I don't want to go back there."

"You know he didn't mean it, right? Damian didn't mean to say that… that Bruce shouldn't have adopted you. I think he really likes you and he was just mad at Bruce and he let his anger speak for him." Dick peered into Wally's face, trying to read the set of his mouth and the furrow of his brow. They say that the eyes are windows to the soul and Dick had become skilled at interpreting what he saw in those windows, but suddenly he found someone whose windows were permanently shuttered close.

Wally's answer was quiet but firm, "Someone told me once that words said in anger are words that come from the heart. Words that are said in anger show what people truly think of you."

Dick didn't have a response to that, so he sat in silence with Wally and thought of something to say. After a moment, Wally spoke again, his voice somehow quieter than before, "How do I know if someone likes me?"

Bright blue eyes flickered over to the red head, but Wally's face was still determinedly facing forward. Dick thought for a moment and finally answered, "I guess there's never something definite that tells you that someone likes you. You just have to act on the assumption that they do like you and you'll, I don't know, just feel it? There will be a moment when you realize that the person likes you and that you're friends even if neither of you outright says it."

There was another silence before Wally said, "Why can't there be some sign, some clear cut, obvious sign, a chemical signal in the brain firing off neurons or activating certain hormones to give you a feeling that shows clearly that someone likes you?"

"Some things aren't all science. There are things that science can't help people understand no matter how hard they try." Dick answered slowly, inching closer to Wally.

By this time, Wally was resting his feet on a branch a couple of inches below the one they were sitting on. His knees were pushed into his chest and he rested his head on them, looking positively dejected as he said, "Well it should be. Science is… understandable and calm and never ending and can't betray you. It can be confusing and difficult and roundabout, but there is always a solution, always an answer and science is always there. People are… complicated problems that don't always have a solution and there aren't… explainable answers for what they do. It doesn't… make sense!"

A slight smile tinted with sadness played around the edges of Robin's lips as he stared at this boy who had turned to chemicals and formulas and beakers because people were too cruel. He mimicked Wally's position and mused, "What fun would life be if it made sense? Life isn't supposed to make sense and if science explains it all away then what do we have to live for?"

"I just… I don't want to be hurt again." Wally finally whispered, a shuddering sigh leaving him as the last of his tension finally fell away.

"Oh Wally," Dick whispered back, pulling the young boy into a hug as he started to sob again, deep racking breaths shaking his thin body like a leaf in Dick's arms. Dick leaned into the hug, resting his head on Wally's red locks and whispered quietly, "I promise that I'll show you that not all people are cruel. I'll show you that people can be unexplainable and good at the same time. I'm going to bring you out of the darkness Wally."


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jason's being a sweetheart again and this time Damian is too. Dick is just a little demon troll.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> By the by, I know that it's more believable if there was swearing in Jason's point of view just based on him as a character, but I don't swear and it hurts me a little bit to type out a swear word, so he won't swear here {I can hear swear words, I just can't say them!}

JJJJJJ

Jason was stalking around the foyer of the manor, shoulders tense and face set in a frown. Damian had called them about a half an hour ago saying that he and Grayson had found Wally and that Dick was talking to the kid right then. They still hadn't come back or called and Jason was not happy knowing that it was Damian out there with Wally and not him. It wasn't that he cared for the blind kid, he just didn't want his soon to be wingman being corrupted by the manipulative arrogant assassin's son. At least, that's what he was trying to convince himself.

Red Hood smiled grimly to himself as he thought about the nice big black eye that Damian was going to have tomorrow morning. To be completely honest, he knew that he would have never landed that punch if Damian hadn't been too busy sulking to see the signs that a punch was imminent. The smirk drifted away from his face when he realized that Colin was going to see the bruise tomorrow morning also. Jason grimaced; Colin was so sweet it was sickening most of the time, but when he got angry, he got angry. And the only time Jason had seen Colin angry was when Damian was hurt. Great, now he was going to have an Abuse out to get him. Jason sighed and scratched the back of his neck before shrugging and deciding that it was worth it.

His pacing was halted when the front door opened quietly and Dick trudged in, red cane in hand and Damian behind him carrying a (hopefully) sleeping Wally. Jason frowned and was about to move forward to grab the child out of the Demon's arms, but Bruce got there first, picking Wally up and shifting him so he was being held bridal style in his new father's arms. Bruce's voice was quiet, but still that tense, angry and afraid tone it was earlier, "Where did you find him?"

Dick answered, "He was in the woods. He had somehow found his way up a huge tree back there. I don't know how his feet survived as well as they did. I talked with him and he fell asleep so I carried him down the tree and Damian carried him the rest of the way. He didn't wake up once."

"I'm certain he is exhausted after such an ordeal. If you will carry him to his room, Master Bruce, I will tuck him in bed and make sure that there are some cookies by his bedside for when he awakens." Alfred commented, before he paused and said, "Perhaps I won't put the cookies there actually. I'm not sure he'd know they were there." Jason recognized what Alfred was doing for what it was. He was trying to make sure that Bruce and Damian stayed separated until they had both gotten a good night's sleep and were in a clearer state of mind. It was a waste of time in Jason's opinion. They would continue to argue and bicker no matter what happened. Bruce ended up complying, sending a small glance at Damian as he went up the stairs.

After Alfred and Bruce were gone, there was a moment of terse silence as everyone glanced at each other, wondering who was going to snap first. Jason was about to make the first move, fed up with the silence, but Damian moved first, stalking towards the living room and the clock that led down to the Bat Cave. The others followed like little ducklings following their mother. Jason scoffed; he refused to do what the rest of those losers did. He didn't need to get an explanation or vent his frustrations and he sure wasn't going to forgive the Demon. Jason turned on his heel and headed up the stairs, not really sure where he was going.

He ended up wandering around the east wing for a while before he headed back towards the general living quarters. He happened to glimpse Alfred leading Bruce out of Wally's room, likely telling him that it wasn't his fault and that he should sleep so he could approach this better in the morning. The butler caught Jason's eyes and he tilted his head towards the newest addition's room, indicating that the door was still slightly open. Jason purposely turned around and headed the other direction. After a few seconds, however, he turned around and headed back to the hallway that held Wally's room. He ascertained that no one else was in the hallway and he crept towards the kid's room, intending to just peak his head in there to make sure he was, in fact, still living; nothing else.

When his eyes finally caught sight of Wally's sleeping form, however, he stepped fully into the room, finding himself checking over every piece of skin that wasn't covered in bed sheets to make sure that he wasn't hurt anywhere. He realized quickly that Wally's big, black glasses were still on and frowned. Moving lightly over the plush floor, he made his way over to Wally's bedside. He gently pulled the glasses off and set them on the end table. When he looked back over at the sleeping child, his heart clenched painfully in his chest. The first thing he noticed was that his eyes were… they were destroyed. This wasn't someone who was born with his blindness and Jason would wager that this wasn't an accident either. There were small, jagged scars radiating out from his eyes that were short enough to be normally covered by the glasses. The eyes themselves were milky pale and looked almost cracked. It was sickening. The second thing he noticed was the red rim around his eyes that indicated that he had been crying. Jason's blood boiled and it took him everything he had to not go to the Bat Cave and start wailing on Damian. He had caused Wally to cry.

The only thing that stopped Jason from heading down there immediately was the feeling that Wally probably wouldn't want to wake up alone. Jason didn't really know the kid, but he knew that he was a nine year old who probably felt like no one wanted him anymore and Jason wanted him to know that he wasn't alone. Despite the fact that Jason didn't like people in general, he was still sensitive to their feelings and somehow at some point this kid had woken a need to protect and Jason wouldn't let anything hurt him if he could help it. So, Jason pulled the beanbag from the corner and pulled it next to Wally's bed before settling. Dang, this was comfortable. His last thought before falling asleep was that he should get one of these for his room.

DDDDDD

Damian had gone straight to the training room in the Bat Cave. He didn't bother waiting for his siblings to lecture him, just moving straight to set up a punching bag then wrapping cloth around his hands and hitting it with all of his might. His black eye was stinging slightly, but that pain didn't bother him nearly as much as the expression on Wally's face when he heard what Damian had said. He hadn't meant to say that! It… it just came out and it came out all wrong! Why did Wally have to hear that? Why? Each thought spinning through Damian's head was another three punches landed on the bag. He could feel the others gathering behind him, but ignored them in favor of his current activity.

Eventually Dick's voice sounded through the haze of punches, rough and exhausted, "Why did you say that Damian?"

"It's because that's just what Damian does!" Tim scoffed, "He doesn't care about other people at all, except Colin for some reason. He probably wanted Wally to run away so he wouldn't have to pretend like a human being around one more person. This is what you wanted all along, isn't it Demon!"

Damian ignored him and continued punching, his rhythm only slightly faltering. It sounded like Tim had been about to say something else, but then he didn't and Damian didn't care why he suddenly stopped talking. The former assassin heard the sounds of two people leaving and sighed as he realized who was left. The light touch on his arm confirmed the fact and he slowed his punching down to turn slightly to face Cass. She looked him deep in the eyes and said in her calm, but firm voice, "It's not your fault. It will turn out alright." Then she turned and walked away, leaving Damian to his thoughts.

Tim was wrong. This wasn't what he wanted at all. He… he actually liked Wally. He felt… somehow connected to the child and the last thing he wanted was for him to leave. The whole argument had started because he was worried for the safety of the child! Now that Wally knew their identities, he was at risk. Everyone who learned was at risk and he already knew after being with them for one day. One single day. Now Wally had a permanent target painted on his back. He had a target on his back anyways just for being the son of Bruce Wayne. All of the Wayne children had been kidnapped in their civvies at one point or another because someone wanted ransom money from the billionaire. Damian's protective streak (which didn't come out often) had pushed its way to the forefront of his mind and he hadn't been thinking straight.

He didn't realize that he had stopped punching the bag and grabbed his phone until he felt the back of his knees hit a bench and he fell onto his, phone pulled up with a picture of Colin's smiling face. His finger was hovering over the call button. Damian's face shut down, his emotions clamping themselves in an iron fortress. He didn't need to mix his beloved into this. He could deal with this on his own. He didn't need to go crying to Colin because of his own stupid mistake. He would get better on his own and he would fix this on his own and he would never ever hurt Wally like this again. He swore this to himself silently, face serious and cloth fraying around his fingers where they had been relentlessly pounded into the punching bag. Damian ran his shaking hands over his face, taking in a deep breath. He could do this. He didn't show weakness and he never would. This was a simple tactical error and he would rectify it. That's what he had been taught to do from the day he was born.

Suddenly Colin's voice flashed in his head; a memory:

"You can't treat it like you accidently tipped off your mark and are trying to make sure that your mark doesn't suspect anything," a ten year old Colin informed Damian with a small smile on his face.

"Why not?" Damian demanded. That was how one was to approach this situation as far as he was concerned. When one makes the one they are conversing with visibly upset, one must approach the situation tactfully with full knowledge of one's mark beforehand so as to guilt said mark into becoming calm once more. How did this not apply to the current situation? He had made a girl in his class cry by bluntly refusing to take the flower she offered him. He had no functional use for a flower so had refused it.

Colin smiled broadly at him and Damian was momentarily mesmerized by that smile. He didn't understand why Colin affected him this way, making him lose full concentration on his surroundings. He was distracted further when Colin said, "She's not your mark. All you have to do is apologize."

"I was under the impression that apologizes do not always result in rectification of the situation. According to Father, the one you are apologizing to will not always accept the apology, in which case that solution is inefficient and not recommended for use." Damian answered promptly.

"If they don't accept it, it either means that you're not being sincere enough, or the person wasn't really upset in the first place and they just wanted the attention. I think that if you apologize to Patricia and really mean it, she'll accept it." Colin said his eyes so wide and earnest that Damian had to just stare at him for a moment. 

Then Damian's brow furrowed in thought, "How do you put more sincerity into an apology? Do you offer them money along with the dictated apology?"

"No silly," Colin smiled, "You just have to really, really, really mean it when you say it. The person you're apologizing to will know that! You just have to try and take the first step by apologizing and meaning what you say." Colin was the only one who could get away with calling Damian silly. He was also the only one who could get away with calling him Dami, or hugging him, or doing a lot of other things. Damian always made exceptions for Colin.

The corner of Damian's lips curled up into a tiny smirk as he realized that Colin didn't even need to be here to help him. Colin had shown him how to be more… human because Colin was the most perfect human that this world had ever created.

Damian now knew what he needed to do.

It only took moments for him to climb the stairs out to the living room. He then climbed the next set of stairs, taking the right turns until he got to Wally's room. The door was cracked open slightly and Damian peeked in to see who was there. He received the sight of Jason curled up in a beanbag next to Wally's bed. At some point Wally's hand had fallen over the side of the bed and Jason was currently curled around that, the small hand tightly enveloped in a larger, rougher hand. Damian moved to the other side of the room, moving silently and stealthily. He grabbed Wally's desk chair, noting the pictures of Wally and some other girl taped to the desk. He pulled the chair close to the bed and sat in it gingerly, watching the sleeping child.

Someone must have taken the boy's black glasses off because they were sitting on the end table. Wally's face was buried in the pillows in Jason's direction, so Damian couldn't take the chance to look at the boy's eyes. Suddenly, Wally's oh so tiny voice called out, "Dami?" It was so timid and so worried and so… guarded that Damian's heart shattered a little in his chest.

His voice was rough from disuse and he coughed quietly, making sure to not wake Jason up, "Yeah, it's me Wally. I… I'm so sorry, Wally. Nothing I can say will ever make you forget what you heard, but I'll do everything I can to make it up to you, I swear."

There was silence for a long moment, long enough that Damian thought for a second that Wally had fallen asleep, before Wally said sadly, "I'm sorry."

He blinked. That was not what he had been expecting, "Why are you sorry, Wally? You didn't do anything wrong. None of this was your fault. There's no need for you to apologize."

"It's my fault that you and Bruce got into an argument and it's my fault that all of you had to come out and look for me. It's my fault that everyone is mad at you and I'm sorry. Please don't hate me. I, I mean, I understand if you do. I'm not worth caring about anyways." Wally responded evenly, but Damian could hear the tears in the blind child's voice.

Damian didn't know how to react. Why… why did… how could Wally possibly think that he wasn't worth caring about? Damian's response was immediate, "You are worth caring about. I don't hate you and I don't think that I ever would be able to. None of this is your fault. No one blames you. Don't ever even think that you aren't worth it. You have five brothers and sisters and a father and an… Alfred who care about you now. You are part of a family and even though we will argue and get mad at each other and yell, we love each other and we love you. We care about you and we want you here. Promise me that you'll never forget that we love you and will always be there for you, alright? Promise me."

Wally's breath hitched for a moment and then he answered tearfully, "I promise." One pale white hand reached out blindly for him and Damian grabbed it without a second thought. Wally was his brother and he would do anything for him, no matter what. He fell asleep like that, Wally's small hand in his calloused hand, half of his body sprawled over the bed and the rest perched on a child's desk chair.

BBBBBB

The next morning dawned bright and far too early for Bruce after that last night. He pulled himself out of bed regardless and decided to check on his youngest and make sure that he was still alright. He pushed the slightly open door all the way open and peered in. He was greeted with the sight of Wally towards one side of the bed, his right hand trapped in Jason's as the older boy slept in a catlike position on the beanbag. His left hand was clenched in Damian's tight grip, the eldest boy practically on top of the best. Bruce smiled slightly at his children, his grin only growing larger when Dick peaked in under his arm and pulled his phone up, taking a quick picture. Bruce knew that Damian and Jason would find out about it and attempt to delete it, but Dick would have it hidden in so many places under so many codes that the two would never be able to destroy it. Tim, alerted by Dick's giggles, ambled slowly down the hallway and looked into the room, lips curling quickly into a smirk before he walked away, still smirking. Cass came soon after, a bright smile on her lips as she saw the position her two most defensive brothers were in. She let out a light, quiet peal of laughter and led Dick away with her to the dining room where Alfred was setting up breakfast.

Bruce smiled to himself; these were definitely his children. He didn't regret adopting a single one of them even after all of the grief they had gone through together. Just then, a small whimper came from Wally's room. Bruce turned his attention back towards his sons, mouth set in a frown, the frown only deepening when he saw that Wally was seemingly trapped in a nightmare. His tightening fists and pained whimpers woke up the other two children. They looked to Wally in worry before catching sight of each other and startling slightly, neither losing their grasp on Wally's hands. Wally's whimpers turned into pained cries as he whispered, "Please don't hurt me! Please! I promise I'll be better. I promise I'll do better next time. I didn't mean to mess up. Please don't hurt me!"

Dark expressions tainted the faces of the only two Wayne children who had actually killed people and they both turned their attentions back to the boy between them. They tried to shush him and lull him slowly back into awareness. Wally's words got faster and faster until Bruce couldn't understand them anymore. He frowned, this reminded him of something. There was something off about what was going on right now, but he couldn't put his finger on it. Then, suddenly, he could.

Damian and Jason both pulled their hands back at the same time, hissing slightly and staring at Wally's hands with shocked expressions. Bruce drew his eyes to where they were looking and froze. His hands were vibrating. The speed at which he was talking; the way his hands were vibrating; the hospital report he had read where Wally had been in a hospital for four months because he had been struck by lightning. Wally had super speed.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone finds out about Wally's super speed and Wally's worried.

WWWWWW

Wally scampered up to his room as soon as the bus let him off at his home. He knew that the best thing to do was be completely silent and go to his bedroom and finish his homework before supper so when his father came upstairs to check it, it would all be done and he wouldn't have annoyed him with unnecessary noise. Wally set his backpack on his bed and immediately sat down at his small desk, starting in on his math homework, pencil scratching across the paper as he finished the sheet with relative ease. The fourth grader had been in Horizons since he was in kindergarten and this year they started advanced math. To Wally, it was just as easy as the math they did in his normal class. He didn't dare comment on it, though, because then he would be 'prideful' and prideful was bad. It was bad for him to think that he was worth anything or good at anything.

Roughly an hour later feet started pounding up the stairs, heading towards Wally's room. Heart in his throat, the young boy checked over his materials quickly. All of his homework was done and spread out neatly for his father to look at easily. He was currently on his bed with a textbook in his arms, like he was supposed to be. He hadn't made any noise. And his backpack was next to his desk, top open and ready to put his homework away, progress report sticking slightly out of the top. Wait! His progress report was still in the backpack! His dad would be angry if it wasn't out next to his homework for him to see. 

Wally launched himself off the bed, wincing as the textbook crashed into the ground. He yanked the progress report out of the backpack and let it settle on his desk, next to his other things. He was running back across the room, back turned to the door as he headed towards his bed. That was the position he was in when his father slammed the door open, just in time to hit Wally in the back. Wally landed on his face with a small, "Oomph!" The door, however, swung back away from Wally and smacked into his father who had been walking into the room. The young red head was terrified. He had really messed up this time.

"Wallace!" His father screamed, redness surrounding his eyes, telling Wally that his father had started getting drunk before dinner, "How dare you hit me with your door? How dare you disrespect me like that? And look at that! Your textbook is just lying on the floor! You are such a stupid pig!" With every sentence, the drunken man took a step forward and Wally scooted a little farther back.

But then Rudolph's hand was slamming into Wally's cheek before forming into a fist and coming down on the boy's chest and stomach and legs and back. Then Rudy began to take his belt off, holding it in his hand and snarling at the young boy, "Take off your shirt and lay face down on the bed. Now!" 

Wally couldn't help the litany he began, even as he moved to do what his father ordered, "Please don't hurt me! Please! I promise I'll be better. I promise I'll do better next time. I didn't mean to mess up. Please don't hurt me!" Wally's father continued to beat him, seemingly ignoring the pleas coming from his son. That was the first time that Wally had been so beaten up that he couldn't go to school the next day. It wasn't the last time.

Wally jerked into awareness and flailed slightly. He couldn't see anything! It took him a moment to get his breathing under control and to readjust to the fact that he was, in fact, blind. Whenever he had dreams, good or bad (though, mostly bad), he would wake up and forget that he couldn't see. The only times he could see were in dreams and memories and it was disconcerting, especially since he had only been blind for two out of nine years of his life. Then, he heard voices. At a pause in the conversation, he realized that the voices belonged to Jason, Damian, and Bruce. The pattern of the echoes indicated that the door to Wally's room was closed.

One of them gasped slightly and Wally could hear another grinding their teeth. Suddenly, hands were gently placing Wally's sunglasses on his face and helping him sit up. Wally recognized the feeling of Jason's firm, but slightly scarred hands. Bruce cleared his throat and Wally aimed his face in his new father's general direction, trying to slow down his beating heart. Then Bruce spoke, "Wally, have you ever, at any point in your life, noticed that… that there was something different about you than other people?"

It was as if his heart stopped. Did they know? They couldn't possibly know. He hadn't given any indication that he was abnormal. Or did he give away too much when he explained how he knew that they were superheroes? Or was it the fact that the cuts from his feet were healed before he even woke up in that tree the night before? All of those thoughts tore through his mind in less than a second and he was able to tilt his head to the side and say innocently, "What do you mean?" without too much of a pause.

Apparently that second's long hesitation was long enough for Batman to pick up on it. Bruce shifted closer to the bed and said, "You already know that you have super speed, don't you?"

Heart pounding once again, sweat trickling down his brow and throat dry, Wally answered, "I don't know what you mean. Super speed like the Flash?" He was going for an innocent, confused tone, but ended up sounding frightened.

Bruce's voice lowered with disappointment and Wally inwardly flinched, "Don't lie to me Wally. I know that you already knew that you had super speed. Why didn't you tell us once you knew that we were superheroes? I work with the Flash for League business constantly."

Wally's throat was tight and he curled into himself, not trusting his voice at the moment. The speedster felt the bed dip next to him and reflexively curled tighter into himself, flinching away from whoever had sat next to him. The person, undeterred, moved closer and wrapped an arm around Wally, pulling him into that person's lap and gently, yet hesitantly, stroking Wally's red hair. Wally breathed in and smelled something metallic and a hint of sweat. It was Damian stroking his hair. He had a very unique scent. "Wally?" Damian asked quietly.

The child took in a deep, calming breath, and answered his new father, "I didn't tell you because I didn't want you to hate me. The Flash is different. He's a hero and he's amazing and nothing he does is ever wrong and he can use his power to do so many good and generous and… awesome things. Me… I'm a freak. I can't use my powers to do anything and I'm a menace to the world as long as I can run, but I can't run, so I should just ignore my stupid speed. I tried to ignore my stupid metabolism too, but I had to find a dumpster near the orphanage and eat out of there to get enough food and I always have to try to slow down my stupid brain because it goes too fast and then I forget what other people are talking about and people just say that I have a short attention span and then they laugh at my for it, but it's because of my stupid powers. I didn't tell you because I hate them and I didn't want you to hate me because of them." Before Wally knew it, he was ranting, tears streaming down his face again as he clutched at his eldest brother's shirt.

"We would never hate you because of your powers. They aren't stupid and you aren't either. You shouldn't hate your powers because they're a big part of you and you can't just forget about them. We'll find a way for you to work with them and you won't ever have to hide something from us ever again, alright Wally?" Dick's voice floated in from the hallway and Wally suddenly heard Dick and Tim and Cass and Alfred's heart beats all setting up steady rhythms just inside his doors.

Wally's breath hitched as he realized that everyone knew and even though Dick said that none of them would hate him, that didn't necessarily mean anything. Before Wally could convince himself of this further, noises of assent came from the rest of the family, all of them saying that they would never hate him. Then Tim said, "You have heightened senses too, don't you? Even more heightened than other blind people, right?"

"I can hear all of your heartbeats and I can smell the blueberry pancakes that are cooking two stories down in the kitchen. I can feel the air disturbances around objects even when there isn't any wind." Wally admitted timidly. All of his secrets were coming out at the same time and no one seemed to mind, but he couldn't see their faces to be able to tell and he was so, so scared. "Can-," Wally's voice broke and he swallowed before trying again, "Can I… feel your faces? To know what you look like?" Lizzy, when Wally had still been meeting with her every day after school, had told Wally once that children will generally feel the faces of their family members or blind people would map their romantic partner's faces with their fingers. It was an intimate thing and not something that blind people generally do because it was awkward and a little embarrassing for both parties, but Lizzy always stressed that he should do it once he felt comfortable around his family. And, surprisingly, he did. Wally felt comfortable around this ragtag group of children and their father and their… Alfred (based on the interactions, Wally wasn't sure whether he should call Alfred their butler or their surrogate grandfather). They were more of a family than he had ever known in his short life.

There was a pause as feet (based on the step patterns, it was Cass) came to the side of the bed. Her cool hands, just as calloused as Jason's and Damian's, grabbed one of his and lifted it gently to rest on her forehead. Wally moved his fingers around, tracing out her closed, oval shaped eyes and her full lips and her thin nose, moving around her defined jaw. He smiled at her and she moved his fingers to feel her smile back at him. Others moved forward and he repeated the process, feeling his sibling's faces and eventually his father's face and then Alfred's face. Finally, Bruce (it felt like Bruce anyways) wrapped Wally in a hug and whispered (that soft, gentle, soothing voice that was so different from his Batman voice and yet so much the same), "We'll figure this out together, okay son?"

Wally's breath hitched and he stiffened for a second before melting into the embrace and whispering back, "Okay dad."

BBBBBB

Bruce opened his phone and searched for a particular name. He finally found it and, after a moment's hesitation, he clicked on it. There was ringing for a few moments before the person picked up, "Hey Bruce, what's up?"

"Barry," Bruce greeted. He had specially secured these lines so he didn't have to worry about other people getting information, but he still talked as cryptically as he could, just in case someone found their way into this line, they wouldn't be able to get anything incriminating. Better safe than sorry (the other Leaguers called it paranoia, but Bruce didn't believe that it was paranoia if they really were out to get you). Bruce continued, "I'm sure you've heard by now that I've adopted a new son. It was all over the news in the past couple of days."

"Uhh, yeah, I totally heard about that." Barry chuckled nervously over the line and Bruce had to resist the urge to rub his temples to dispel the already forming headache.

"Since you obviously know nothing about what I'm talking about," Bruce ignored Barry's indignant protests, "I'll tell you. I was out as Batman with my other children and we ran across a young blind child named Wally. I adopted him four days later. That was yesterday. I had called to tell you that I think you would like to meet him."

There was a pause as Barry took in all the information before he commented slowly, "I don't know if I really want to meet him. I feel like all your kids are secretly laughing at me every time we meet. It makes me feel stupid."

Bruce had to hide his chuckle at how much Barry could remind him of a kicked puppy even over the phone. The scarlet speedster annoyed Batman to no end whenever they had to work together, but Bruce and Barry were actually quite good friends. It didn't make much sense, logically, but they were superheroes. Nothing in their lives made much sense anymore. Bruce responded evenly, "I just thought that you would like to meet this one because he likes science about as much as you do. He's especially interested in the effect lightning has on chemicals."

Barry gasped slightly before speaking faster than before, "Are you saying what I think you're saying, Bruce?"

"He's just like you," Bruce affirmed before adding, "He thinks that he doesn't have much of a chance pursuing that particular field of interest though because he's blind. I think that you should meet him and help show him that he can do whatever he wants."

"Is he going into the same field of work as you?" Barry asked, hinting towards Bruce's nighttime job.

Bruce hesitated before answering, "Truthfully, I don't know. I think he wants to. He seems like all he wants to do is use any gift he has to help people, but I don't know if the job is the best fit for him."

"He's a Wayne." Barry responded and Bruce could practically feel the sunshine radiating from the smile Bruce could hear in the forensic scientist's voice. Bruce chuckled and let him know that he would set up a time for them to meet as soon as he could before hanging up. He had research to do to satisfy a hunch he had.

DDDDDD

Damian smiled as he led Wally to the middle of the training room. The blind child was still hesitant around them, but it was much better than it had been earlier that week or even when they first met. He was quickly becoming a big part of their family and he was probably the first thing that all of them could agree on. Damian straightened started instructing his new pupil, "I'm going to teach you Escrima. It's an ancient martial art that comes from the Philippines. It was taught as a recreational activity there before it was banned by the Spaniards who came to rule over the land. That didn't stop the Filipinos from continuing to practice the art, choosing to practice it as a dance instead of a form of fighting. The basic moves were still there, but they simply didn't hold weapons in their hands. When the Americans took over the Philippines, the ban on the art was lifted and it was practiced freely once again. The knowledge was only recently added into the martial arts world and people only recently began practicing it anywhere other than the Philippines. They use bolos and rattan sticks and kamagongs, bahi sticks, kris knives and dulo-dulo. I will teach you the basic movements before we add in weapons, but I want you to know how to defend yourself. We will focus on your agility and your sensory awareness. Let us begin." Damian finished and moved to stand in front of Wally.

Before Damian could start the basic motions, however, Wally asked, "Where did you learn Escrima, Dami?"

Damian paused before answering, "My mother made sure that I knew as many forms of fighting as I could possibly learn. Alright, let's begin."

They had been working on the beginners movements for almost an hour when Damian saw Bruce come in and lean against the doorway, watching them. He knew that Wally felt (or heard or smelt or something) Bruce come in as well because Wally tensed up slightly and lost his form on the exercise. Damian glared at Bruce, blaming him for the mistake and Bruce simply smiled back at him. The two hadn't had a real conversation since that night a week ago when Wally had run out, but then again, they normally didn't talk for long periods of time after their arguments.

After Wally messed up another move (he had been doing so well before this), Damian called a break and asked his father testily, "Did you need something?" He heard Wally giggle behind him and rolled his eyes.

Father answered with a small smile, "I have a surprise for Wally."

"Really?" Wally squeaked, somehow right behind Damian. The former assassin would deny jumping slightly for the rest of his life. He definitely blamed Dick for Wally's sudden ability to walk around completely silently. It was annoying enough having one of them always underfoot; now there were two.

Damian sighed and pinched his nose as Bruce answered, "Yeah. I got in contact with an old friend and he wants to meet you. He's in the Bat Cave waiting for you right now." Wally tilted his head the way he always did when he didn't entirely understand something and Bruce continued, "I think you would know him better by the name… Flash."


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wally meets Barry and villains come into the picture.

BBBBBB

Barry sat in the computer chair in the Bat Cave at Wayne manor. Even Alfred's phenomenal hot chocolate with the perfectly sized marshmallows (which he had to have imported from some other country because Barry looked everywhere in America and he couldn't find this size) couldn't distract him from the thoughts swirling through his mind. He didn't know what to think. He wished that Iris was here with him because he always understood things better when she was with him. There wasn't any time to go and grab her or even call her on the phone because Wally was coming up the stairs to meet him right now and he didn't know what to do. His mind flashed (pun intended) to what Bruce had told him moments before:

Barry had zipped over from Central to Gotham, making it to Bruce's door only ten minutes later than he was scheduled to arrive. The Bat Glare sent his way told him that Bruce didn't feel as happy as Barry did about how soon he actually arrived (ten minutes late was somewhat of a record for him). The speedster of Central City grinned at Batman and zoomed into the Bat Cave, settling himself into his favorite chair with a sigh of bliss. Bruce spared no expense on getting comfortable chairs. Bruce followed him in several moments later. Barry grinned at him, "You're getting slow, Bruce. Can't keep up with my awesomeness?"

"Can you be serious for a moment?" Bruce turned on the almost Bat Glare that Barry interpreted as his 'hurt my children and I will hurt you' glare and Barry nodded mutely. He wondered what this was all about. He shrugged to himself and decided that he would wait until Bruce decided to tell him. Said man continued soon after, "I have something to tell you about Wally that might come as something of a surprise."

Barry nodded, sitting forward and indicating with a roll of his hand that Bruce could continue, which the man promptly did, "Wally is your nephew." Batman didn't give him any chance to process that statement before he moved on to explaining it:

"A week ago I discovered that my youngest son had super speed. Soon after I decided to contact you to train Wally, but that led me to a different train of thought. Wally's original last name is West. I remembered that your wife's maiden name is West. I thought about his super speed and thought that this couldn't be a coincidence. After contacting you, I started to look into the issue.

"Rudolph West emancipated himself from the West household a little after he turned eighteen. He was financially independent and wanted to have the rights of an adult. Based on witness reports, he felt as if Iris, who was adopted as an infant by Ira West, was getting too much attention and didn't deserve everything she got. Because he was unable to convince Ira West of this, Rudolph West left the household. He did not tell his family when he married Mary West, nor when Mary gave birth to Wallace Rudolph West.

"When Rudolph and Mary West were arrested two years ago, there were no legal papers that said that Iris West, the last living relative of Rudolph West, should be contacted in regards to the care of Wally due to Rudolph's earlier emancipation. Wally was placed in a Gotham orphanage and, as you know, I adopted him." Bruce finished and watched Barry carefully like he might have a panic attack or something. And he might. This was… this was something else. 

Iris had told him about her brother, saying how she had often been scared of him, worried that one day he was going to snap and hurt someone. Barry wondered what she'd think if she knew that her brother was in jail right now and that her nephew was in Batman's care. Her nephew… his nephew. He was an uncle and had apparently been one for quite some time without even knowing it. 

After realizing that Bruce was still watching him for a reaction, Barry cleared his throat and said, "Does… Wally know yet?"

Bruce shook his head and answered, "He's been having an… interesting transition into the family and I didn't want to cause any unnecessary stress by telling him too soon. Also, I thought that it should be your decision as well as to when I tell Wally. He is your nephew after all. It's only fair that you get a say in all of this. Do you want to tell him today?"

Barry rubbed a hand across the back of his neck and sighed, eventually saying, "Not… not today. I want to talk to Iris about all of this first. She'll want to know and I'm sure she'd want to tell him herself. You said that Rudolph and Mary were arrested? What are they in prison for?"

Bruce hesitated and Barry braced himself. It was never a good thing when a Bat hesitated. Then Bruce continued, "You'll have to ask Wally that himself once you get to know him better. That's his story to tell. Are you ready to meet your nephew and start training him to use his super speed?" Barry had nodded.

To be completely honest, Barry had forgotten that the original reason that he was there that day was to train Wally. His nephew. Jeez, that was going to take some time to get used to. Before Barry could think any more on the subject, he heard tapping coming towards the main room of the Bat Cave and distractedly remembered that Bruce had mentioned Wally's disability. Soon Bruce came into sight, followed by two more bodies.

One of them he easily recognized as Damian who, out of all of Bruce's children, gave him the greatest feeling of being laughed at whenever they met. The next one was a small child with large opaque glasses and a bright red cane. He had hair that was a couple of shades more red than Iris's with her pale skin and a dusting of freckles across his face.

He was smiling at Damian, a bright grin that was smaller than it could be, but just as heartwarming. It looked as if Damian and the child (Wally, he presumed) had just finished exercising or something. There was a fine sheen of sweat over both of their faces and Wally's cheeks were slightly red with exertion. Wally's head tilted in Barry's direction and his steps faltered. Damian's finger tips brushed against the younger Wayne's back and pushed him forwards slightly.

Barry crouched down to be on eye level with the young boy, glad that the boy couldn't see his furrowed brows and troubled expression. Damian could, however, and he frowned at first Barry and then his father. Barry ignored the eldest Wayne and started talking to Wally, "Hey buddy! I'm the Flash. I heard that you've got super speed just like me. That's pretty cool, huh?"

Wally didn't answer his question, instead tilting his head slightly and saying, "Your heart beats really fast Mr. Flash." Barry blinked; that was not the response he was expecting. Wally kept going, "I guess that makes sense, especially with your heightened healing. When your blood clots, the increased heart rate pushes more blood through the vessels to the sight where blood clotting is needed. Your blood then clots faster, so, obviously your heart rate has to be increased. Er, I mean, hi, I'm Wally..."

By this point, Wally's cheeks were tinged red with embarrassment instead of exertion. Bruce was trying not to laugh and Damian was smirking at his younger brother in something akin to pride. Barry couldn't help ruffling the boy's hair, pointedly ignoring the flinch when contact was made. He laughed, "You know a lot about science. I'm impressed! You know, I'm a forensic scientist when I'm not running around in spandex. I think science is pretty cool too."

Wally latched onto a particular phrase and asked brightly, his face completely animated, "You're a forensic scientist?!"

Barry had by this point moved to sit on the floor and Wally awkwardly folded himself into a seated position with his cane resting in his lap. Barry couldn't help ruffling the boy's hair again before answering, "Yeah I am. Its a ton of fun! You ever think about being a forensic scientist when you grow up, Wall-man?" Barry saw Damian mouthing the word Wall-man, but studiously ignored it in favor of paying attention to Wally.

"It... its always been my dream to be a forensics person. I'm thinking a toxicologist." Wally shyly informed him, head aiming towards his lap. Barry noticed Damian and Bruce looking at each other; apparently this was their first time hearing this.

Barry was about to comment on that but ended up saying, "Whoa, wait. You heard my heart beating?" Damian snorted elegantly (how did he do that? Was he trained to snort elegantly alongside being trained to kill people with pencils?).

Barry ignored Damian and listened as Wally answered, "I... lost my eyesight not long after I woke up with my powers and I think that the chemicals were still affecting my body when I lost my sight and so they overcompensated with severely heightened senses. At least, that's my theory."

Barry thought that there was definitely a story behind the eyesight thing, but decided to let Wally tell him when he felt comfortable around him. Then he fully processed what Wally said and asked, "What do you mean when you say you woke up with your powers? Did it just randomly happen overnight?"

"No," Wally answered giving him a look that questioned his intelligence. Barry sighed to himself; even the one that had only been a Wayne for a week was giving him that look. They start their training soon apparently. Wally continued, "I was in a coma for four months after I was struck by the lightening. I woke up and realized that I had super speed soon after."

"You were in a coma for four months?" Damian asked incredulously. Wally shrunk slightly into himself and nodded slightly. Damian's expression softened and he put a calming hand on Wally's head. That was weird. Damian was actually being nice to Wally; Damian was never nice to anyone unless that person was Colin. Huh.

Bruce was talking now and Barry startled to attention, "I believe that you said that you were planning on training Wally to use his super speed?" Bruce prompted, giving Barry a pointed look.

Barry nodded and grinned before turning back to Wally who had his head tilted in Barry's direction. It was super disconcerting to see black opaque glasses everytime one looked at someone. It was especially disconcerting for Barry knowing that the boy had super speed. It would be unbelievably hard to run without sight and Barry couldn't imagine any portion of a life (two years, Bruce had informed Barry) spent being unable to run. He couldn't imagine the pent up energy that had no where to go. He couldn't imagine having the ability to run so fast that the entire world slows down and yet being unable to access that power, to utilize it. It gave Barry an entirely different view on the pains that this child had to go through.

So Barry smiled at the young speedster and stood, pulling Wally up with him and said, "Come on, Wall-man, we're nor going to start running long distance yet, but let's get you using your super speed today. Whatcha think about that?" The smile Wally gave him in return was troubled and Barry remembered Bruce saying something about how Wally had hated his powers and thought that they only brought bad things. Barry smiled to himself and thought, Just you wait and see, Wally. I'll show you how amazing running can be and you'll never regret the accident that gave you this special world that speedsters have all to themselves.

DDDDDD

Dick heard whoops of joy coming from the training room and made a quick detour. He had been going to join Batman by the Batmobile to go start his patrol, but figured that Bats could wait a few minutes while he investigated the sound. If Dick didn't know better, he would have said that it was the Flash making that joyful sound. On second thought, Dick remembered hearing Barry come into the manor a little earlier in the day. Damian had come up and mentioned something about Wally training earlier in the day.

Mask set firmly in place and feet lightly creeping across the floor, Dick peeked into the training room. The sight he was met with set a smile firmly on his face.

There in the training room was Barry and Wally. Barry had small walls erected in a circle spanning around the entire room. Wally was following the path, having apparently taken it slowly for the beginning loops around the makeshift track, getting used to the shape and length. He had been getting steadily faster and faster until, finally, he accessed his super speed.

Barry's whoops of joy at seeing his student running at speeds faster than some race cars were accentuated by Wally's whoops of joy as he made each loop. Well, there was something to be said about similarities between speedsters (not that anyone had ever commented on similarities between speedsters, but Dick figured he'd just be the first then).

Dick then frowned to himself. If they were practicing and they had been practicing since Damian came upstairs earlier in the day, that would mean that they had been training for almost seven hours. Dick then caught sight of the many plates left out to the side and realized that Alfred must have been supplying them with food for most of the day.

The young acrobat smiled one more time before turning and finally leaving to go on patrol. It looked as if Wally had finally found the light of running.

MMMMMM

Mary West looked at her surroundings in disdain. Even after two years of living in this pig sty, she still hadn't gotten quite used to it. She didn't belong in this place! Her husband deserved to be in prison even less than she did. He deserved to be recognized as hero as given awards. Wonderful, kind, brave Rudy West had saved this world from the horrors that the thing they had given birth to would have come to do. He blinded the beast so the beast didn't know where to strike next.

Mary remembered her son asking her once why she didn't love her husband and she reflected on the years of her son's life with sadness. She shouldn't have been as focused on fixing her son as she had been. She had neglected her duties as the perfect wife. The time that the freak had been in a coma in the hospital were reminiscent of the time when Rudy and Mary had just gotten married and she never remembered being happier. This was her true calling in life. She had forgotten that it was her job, her right, her place to serve her husband and only him. He was supposed to be the focus of her life and she had forgotten that. It only took a few hits to remember it and Rudy had been so proud of his good old Mary. She had glowed for days after that particular praise.

That freak waking up had been the reason that their perfect world fell apart again, but this time Mary was determined to not shirk her duties as a wife. She would uphold her faith and her love as religiously as if Rudy was her one and only god. She only had five more years until she got out of this sink hole and she would immediately go and visit her husband. He would know what to do about the freak and she would do whatever he asked her to do. She didn't care if it went so far as murder. She would do anything for her love.

Besides, she had seen the news. She had seen the famous billionaire announcing the adoption of another son. She had waited anxiously with the other women in the penitentiary for news on who the child would be and what the child looked like (almost everyone was convinced that it would be a child with black hair and blue eyes; Wayne seemed to like ones like that). The other inmates had cooed over the poor little blind red head, but Mary had been seething. That freak, that monster that had torn apart their lives with his birth and his waking from the coma and his screams as his father saved the world from him got to live in a billionaire's mansion and go to rich schools and actually have a chance at life! That wasn't fair! Her precious, beautiful hero, Rudy, was rotting away in a prison, the world being deprived from his wonderful gifts of love and fairness and willingness to get the job done while that freakish brat got to live the good life. It had been all that she could do to not jump up and start destroying the screen so she didn't have to see that thing's face anymore.

Five years, Mary told herself, five years and then she would be free and she would finish the job that the poor, confused police had stopped her husband from finishing. Five years.

VVVVVV

Vandal Savage sat in his chair and watched as Doctor Taislo looked up at them, eyes wide and throat continuously working and a bead of sweat slowly moving down his temple. Savage immediately knew how this meeting would end up. The doctor was afraid because he had failed again and needed to ask for more money. Vandal chuckled to himself as he imagined the look Dr. Taislo would have on his face if he knew what had happened to the last few doctors they had hired. The group switched out the person who got to play with the unlucky doctors and this doctor, should he fail, would go to Klarion. Savage would have pitied the man if he had the capacity to feel that emotion any longer. He looked over to where the Witch Boy was sitting, being met with the sight of a giant ball of white light that vaguely resembled Klarion's shape.

Doctor Taislo finally spoke up, clearing his throat several times before beginning, "The attempt to create a Kryptonian clone this time was significantly better than the first times and I'm very close to the solution, I promise. I just need-,"

He was cut off from a distorted version of Queen Bee's voice saying tiredly, "Your request is denied and your work here terminated. Klarion, enjoy." There was an unnatural red light and a scream before Vandal Savage turned his screen off and grinned to himself. The Light was coming together nicely.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Interlude chapter with random jazz.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is kind of like an interlude chapter because the chapter after the next chapter is supposed to be four years after Chapter 8 and there are some things that I wanted to write out, but they weren't long enough for their own chapters, so I stuck them all together into two chapters.

HOW WALLY MET IRIS

Barry had been training Wally for almost two weeks when he decided to man up and just tell Wally that he was his uncle.

When Wally hurtled to a stop (he still hadn't gotten used to stopping so far, but they were working on it) and grinned up at Barry, so proud and bright, his family clapping in the background, Barry decided it was the perfect moment to inform the child of their relation, but what ended up coming out was, "We've known each other for almost two weeks now. How about you come meet my wife, Iris, this weekend?"

Wally nodded before taking off for the side of the track where his family was. They were on a huge field near the Wayne manor because they were practicing different terrains. Wally was still in the circular, walled track that Barry had made, but now he was running on uneven grass instead of tiled floor. There had been a couple of nasty falls, but the kid had gotten back up and kept going, determined to be the best he could be. Barry had pointedly ignored the Bat Glares he received every time Wally fell.

A second later, Wally skidded into him and Barry had to grasp his arms to stop him from falling. Wally's grin when he tilted his face up at Barry was sheepish and slightly fearful. It broke Barry's heart to know that the kid was still so afraid of everything that something as innocent as running into someone (when you were blind, no less) that he would feel the need to cringe after a mistake like that. The scarlet speedster suddenly realized that Wally's head was tilted in that way that showed Barry that he had just finished asking something and was waiting for a response. This time it was Barry's grin that was sheepish as he asked, "Could you repeat that for me real quick? I kind of spaced out for a second there." He kept forgetting that since Wally was another speedster, his mouth and his mind worked as fast as Barry's and Barry didn't have that couple seconds long barrier between seeing someone and when they start to talk. His thoughts normally went all over the place for those couple of seconds and he reined them in just in time to hear what the person had to say. With Wally, though, he couldn't do that anymore.

Speaking of which, Wally was halfway through repeating his earlier statement, "-said that I could come over this weekend if you were willing to come and pick me up?" His tone was nervous and he unconsciously ran a hand behind his neck.

Barry ruffled his hair (proud that Wally had stopped flinching when Barry's hand came in contact with his head) and said, "Of course I'm willing to come pick you up. It's going to be awesome! Well, training's over at this point, so why don't we just head over to where Alfred's waiting and get some food." Barry was pretty sure he heard Wally mutter something about how the training still wasn't over because he had hacking lessons with Robin later. The scarlet speedster just laughed to himself, knowing that the blind child would hear it. Wally waited patiently for Barry to start running so he could follow the pattern of the wind the elder speedster kicked up, but Barry chuckled and said, "That's not going to happen this time, buddy. You're going to find Alfred with that little nose of yours and those great ears! Come on, off you go at super speed!" This was a risk because they had never done it before. They had always stayed within the track when he used his super speed and that was more about memorization than the use of his amazing senses. Barry opened the gate of the track and helped Wally out.

Wally swallowed nervously, but sniffed the air and set off in a direction that vaguely resembled where Alfred was anyways. He ran in short little bursts, stopping every once in a while to sniff again or tip his head and listen intently. It took him longer than it could, but he still made it to Alfred and Barry hung back as he watched the young speedster's family congratulate. Wally was practically glowing under the praise and Barry's lips tipped up into a goofy smile. He left them to their celebration, grabbing a chunk of food from Alfred's cooler as he passed before running home to his beautiful wife. Barry groaned; she was going to be so mad at him! She knew that he was planning on telling Wally today and she'd know that he chickened out and now he would have to wait until he picked Wally up on Saturday to be able to tell him. He sighed to himself before heading home. He'd almost rather face Weather Wizard's storms than Iris's scornful glances.

The weekend finally rolled around and Barry was nervous when he picked Wally up and ran him to a nearby zeta beam. The two stepped out of an abandoned kiosk sitting forlornly in the back of an alley and the two of them walked quietly to the Allen household. Barry was certain that Wally could tell that he was nervous because he could probably hear the faster than a speedster's usual heartbeat and he could probably smell the sweat and Barry was definitely over thinking this. He was just worried that Wally would hate him for not letting him know about their relation sooner and he was worried that Wally would hate him and Iris for not taking them in when his parents were arrested. It wasn't their fault because there was no way they could have known and, rationally, Barry knew that Wally would understand that, but was worried anyways.

The two speedsters finally got to the front door of the Allen household and Barry held open the door for Wally to tap his way inside. Iris was instantly upon them, smiling a warm smile even though the kid couldn't see her and introducing herself, "Hello sweetie, my name's Iris! It's so good to finally meet you! Barry's said so many good things about you that I could hardly wait." Barry felt his cheeks heat up because he had, in fact, been talking about Wally at almost every chance he got. He noticed out of the corner of his eye that Wally's cheeks heated up as well and he ducked his head while introducing himself.

Iris's eyes shone and Barry knew that she would love being the aunt to this small child who had hair like hers and skin like hers and speed like her husband. She ushered him into the living room where she placed him gently onto a couch, telling him that Barry wanted to talk to him and quickly going to finish making her cookies. Barry shot her a dirty look because she totally planned her cookies not being finished by the time they arrived because she wanted Barry to tell him. She was amazing.

Barry nervously sat next to Wally, back held stiffly, and he cleared his throat once before beginning, "Wally, I have to tell you something." Wally, his face now morphed into something akin to anxious, nodded solemnly and Barry continued, "I should have told you earlier, but I was too nervous. I kept thinking that you were going to hate me and I kept pushing it back." He took a deep breath, noting the increasingly worried expression on Wally's face, and continued, "Wally, Iris and I are your Aunt and Uncle. Your biological Aunt and Uncle."

There was a brief moment of incomprehension on Wally's face before he stood up too quickly for the human eye to see and stumbled backwards, that worry quickly turning into fear. Iris came into the room to investigate the noise of Wally tripping over the couch leg and Wally simply scooted backwards, whimpering when his back hit the wall. His knees curled up to his chest and he buried his face in his knees, obviously terrified. Barry met Iris's gaze and shrugged; he had an idea about what happened but he was sincerely hoping that he was wrong. Iris slowly approached Wally and soothingly let her palm rest on his shoulder. He jerked back and whimpered softly again. Iris pulled her hand back as if it had been burned and settled for talking, "Wally sweetie, what's wrong? Why did you react to your Uncle like that?"

There was a pregnant pause before Wally answered, his voice muffled, "You're going to hate me and you're going to hurt me because if you're related to my parents then you're going to hurt me because they always hurt me and I don't want to be hurt anymore." Wally was sobbing into his shorts by the time he was finished and Iris could only watch helplessly as her nephew sobbed in front of her, knowing that if she touched him he would flinch back again.

Barry's blood was boiling in his veins, his vision quickly turning red. Rudolph and Mary West had hurt their child. They had made it so he was terrified of adults and concerned about love. They were the ones that ruined this poor child's life and he had never wanted to kill someone as much as he did right then. All he wanted to do was find whatever jail those two sickos had been sent to and punch them senseless. The only thing that stopped him (other than the thought of an imminent Bat Glare when Batman found out) was the fact that Wally was stilling crying in his living room, a devastated mess in the corner of the room.

Barry quickly sped closer to Wally and knelt down next to him, taking him in his arms (ignoring the flinch and shaking) and gently shushing him, rocking him back and forth and telling him about how proud he was and how much he loved him and how much Wally was going to love being their nephew and how they were going to be the best aunt and uncle ever. Barry unconsciously slipped into super speed and didn't notice the way that Iris smiled softly at her two boys. Eventually, Wally relaxed into his arms and Barry carried him to the couch and set him down again, Iris magically appearing nearby with the promised cookies (scores and scores of them). The three of them sat down on the couches and ate cookies and talked for hours. Iris fed them dinner (one fit for two speedsters) and then Barry ran Wally through the zeta beam and back to the Wayne manor, knocking on the door and, once being let in, carrying a sleeping Wally up the stairs and to his room. He smiled at Damian when the older boy opened his door and checked Wally over with a critical eye before disappearing into his bedroom, Colin waving jovially from behind him.

The speedster sat Wally down in the bed and pulled the sheets over him; ignoring the fact that was sleeping in his clothes (he would wake up and change them… probably). He smiled down at Wally and gently took of the huge black sunglasses that he'd never seen the kid without. His breath caught in his throat as he saw the wrecked state of his eyes and the small scars that told him that this wasn't caused by natural means. He lightly kissed his nephew on the forehead and ran out of the house, back to his loving wife.

HOW WALLY MET DINAH AND OLIVER

It had been about a month or so since the Wayne's adopted Wally and Roy was just hoping the kid and Robin would be at this stupid banquet he and Oliver and Dinah were going to. It was something about Bruce Wayne showing his appreciation of the Gotham Academy where he sent all his kids to by giving them a bunch of money and there was something about Oliver Queen showing his appreciation by donating to the sister branch to Gotham Academy, which was Star City Academy and Roy just really didn't care. Whatever they were doing there, he hated it and wanted to be patrolling with Ollie.

Apparently it didn't matter what he wanted because here he was still, wearing an uncomfortable suit and feeling out of place among all of the socialites from Gotham and Star City that had flocked here to mingle and create connections that they could stab in the back later on. Finally, Roy caught sight of Dick and Wally standing near the wall, cornered by two teenage girls who obviously thought they were all that. Wally's head was tilted in that adorable way that said that he was mildly confused and not entirely certain what was going on. Apparently he had never been hit on by gold diggers before. Roy started making the journey across the room to where his two friends were standing, but felt a strong arm wrapping around his shoulders and turning him around. Ollie whispered in his ear, "Come on, you've gotta stay with us for appearance's sake."

Roy harshly whispered back, "Then why don't you go with me to where I was walking?"

Oliver blinked like the idea hadn't occurred to him (sadly, it probably hadn't) and smiled brightly before turned Roy back in the direction he had been going and snagging Dinah with his other hand before saying joyfully, "Lead the way, young charge!"

Roy rolled his eyes and started walking, easily brushing off Ollie's shoulder. Dinah was looking slightly bemused, having missed most of the conversation. Roy finally came to a stop just behind the two gold diggers and said politely (well, as politely as he could manage), "Hey, I'd like to talk to my friends if you could please leave?" The two girls sneered and him before honest to goodness flipping their hair and walking away, hips swinging violently. Roy simply lifted an eyebrow at them and waved to his friends.

Wally smiled brighter than Oliver and said, "Roy! Dick said that you were coming, but I couldn't hear you in all this noise and I was worried that you weren't here. You were kind of mean to those girls by the way."

Roy snorted and rolled his eyes. Only Wally would be disappointed in himself for not hearing Roy's distinct heartbeat in the crowd of several hundred people. He settled on responding with, "They wanted to get into Dick's pants so they could get all his money. They only talked to you because it made them look good for Dick."

Wally let out a slightly sad, "Oh," and Roy was about to amend his statement so it sounded more flattering, but Wally was already on a different subject, smile lighting up his face again, "Are you going to introduce me to the people who came with you?" Those speedsters and their nonstop racing thoughts (Roy had found out about Wally's gifts when he had dropped by the house unexpectedly one day and, not finding them in the house, had went out back and seen him running in super speed around a track a little ways into the woods). Roy felt Dinah and Oliver stiffen beside him, obviously confused as to how he knew they were there. The small smirk on Wally's face told Roy that the blind child knew exactly what his comment made them feel.

Dick interjected into the conversation and said smoothly, "This is Oliver Queen and Dinah Lance. Mr. Queen is Roy's adopted father and Ms. Lance is Mr. Queen's girlfriend."

The secretive smile that Dick and Wally shared let the younger archer know that Batman had started training Wally in the secret identities of different heroes and he sighed to himself. At this rate, Wally was going to be as insufferable as Robin. Oliver simply beamed at the two Waynes and said, "Call me Uncle Ollie, kid! I'm a good enough friend of Bruce's that I might as well be your uncle!"

Bruce, who had happened to be walking past them on his way up to the stage, whispered low enough that only their small group would hear them, "No you're not." The Dark Knight left to Wally's giggles and a highly affronted look on Oliver's face. Dinah was attempting to sooth Oliver's bruised pride while secretly giggling alongside Wally. Roy could tell that his surrogate parents would get along well with Wally and he was glad for it. He was broken from his musings when Bruce got onto the stage and started talking. Great, this was his favorite part. He and Richard always whispered funny comments to each other to make the speeches more bearable and this time they had Wally to share it with.

HOW WALLY MET BARBARA GORDON

Dick had skipped a couple of grades, so he walked into seventh grade at eleven years old. He was mildly miffed that Wally, who was two years younger than him, was going into the grade above him, but he was more concerned about the fact that Wally had to go through this alone. During the two and a half months since they had adopted the blind red head, Wally had improved dramatically, becoming the bright and joyful ball of energy that Dick had always associated with speedsters. But he had always been surrounded by friends and family and now he was going into eighth grade with no one there for him. Of course, he and Dick would be able to see each other during lunch, but that wasn't nearly as much as they had been seeing of each other before. He sighed and decided to ignore it for now and focus on his first day of school.

He walked into his first period class just in time to be tackled with a hug. He rocked back slightly and then relaxed into the hug once he saw the long red hair that signified that it was Barbara Gordon wrapping her arms around him. She finally pulled back and led him to the seat she had chosen. She started talking the second he sat down, "I missed you so much over the summer! You were always busy and when you weren't busy, I was. It was ridiculous!"

Dick laughed and smiled at Babs. She was one of the best things about school. She was his best school friend and he wasn't sure that he would get through some of the more boring classes (aka most things other than math with only a few exceptions) without her.

His first three classes went relatively smoothly with only being pushed into the lockers once. He was surprised that they were still doing that. He knew that he would always be teased and ostracized because he was from a poorer background and because he was a mathlete, but the bullies hadn't resorted to physical violence for a while.

Finally lunch came around and Dick and Babs waited in the courtyard with trays of food for both of them and one for Wally and a fourth for the person who had been assigned the task of leading Wally around the school. He heard Wally laugh before he saw him and his lips curled in a reflexive smile. Babs, who had yet to meet his younger brother, sat forward in her seat, excited.

Then Wally came into view. There was a taller girl next to him with blonde hair and green eyes and a bright, carefree look in her eyes. She didn't quite look like a snobbish type, but she still had the aura of someone who was in the popular clique. It had been something she said that Wally was laughing about and she protested, furiously trying to defend whatever point she had made, but the wide grin on her face made it obvious that she was having as much fun as Wally. When the two reached their table and Wally finally stopped laughing, Dick stood up and took Wally from the girl, leading him to his seat and moving his hands slightly over the food so he knew where everything was. Dick offered the fourth tray to the girl and said, "Thank you for taking care of my brother today. I really appreciate it." He gave his best charming billionaire's smile and finished by introducing himself, "I'm Dick Grayson. It's a pleasure to meet you…"

He left the statement hanging and she responded while taking the tray, "My name's Sally Johnson. It's nice to meet you too! Thanks for getting my lunch. I'll be back again to pick Wally up for his fourth period. Bye!" She bounced away and Dick turned back to realize that Barbara was staring at Wally and they hadn't talked at all yet. Wally was waiting for Dick to sit down to start eating and was obviously feeling as awkward about meeting Barbara as Barbara felt about meeting Wally.

Dick rolled his eyes and said, "Wally, this is Barbara Gordon that good friend of mine that I told you about. Babs, this is Wally." They both smiled and said hi, Wally doing his best to aim his smile in the right direction. Dick decided to give them some space so the conversation would be less awkward and said, "I'm just going to go to the bathroom real quick. I'll be back soon. Get to know each other while I'm gone." The glare Babs sent him told him that she knew exactly what he was playing at.

There was silence for a couple of seconds before Barbara began to speak, but she was cut off by some eighth graders who came up behind Wally and pulled him over the back of the bench he was sitting on. Barbara was horrified; why did they do that? The tallest one leaned over Wally's form and hissed out, "Don't you dare ever make a fool of us in class again, you got that?" Barbara realized that they must have been waiting for Wally to be left alone with a couple of seventh graders before they approached him. Wally nodded vigorously and the dumb jock said, "Good," before pulling back and socking Wally right in the jaw.

Barbara gasped and got up from her bench, marching up to the bully and pushing him back slightly so she could stand between him and Wally. She pulled herself up to her full sight and said haughtily, "My dad is the Commissioner of the Gotham City Police Department and he can ruin your life if you hurt my friend one more time, you got that?"

"I don't care who your daddy is, little girl. Get out of my way." The brute growled at her and she stuck up her nose at him, shaking her head no. He pulled his arm back and made to hit her too, but she ducked and hit him with the heel of her hand right in the solar plexus like her self-defense teachers taught her to do. She was rewarded with him doubling over, out of breath. He stepped back and snarled at her before leaving. She sniffed disdainfully before turning her attention back to Wally, who was still on the ground, looking disoriented. He had a nasty bruise forming along his jaw line that Barbara knew probably hurt a lot.

She helped him up and settled him on the bench. She said, "Come on, let's get you to the nurse."

He shook his head and smiled, "I don't need to go to the nurse, honest. Thank you for helping me out there. That sounded like a pretty solid punch you landed back there."

Barbara beamed and said, "Thanks! I'm just sorry that I didn't help you out sooner." He insisted that he was alright, but then Barbara slapped her forehead and said, "Your brother is going to kill me! He is super protective about his brothers. You should have seen what Dick did to the people who were talking smack about Jason when he was getting into scandals all the time." Wally smiled and winced slightly at the pain in his jaw. That conversation starter led them on a long discussion about Dick and his protective streak. Barbara could already tell that they were going to be great friends.

HOW WALLY MET HAL JORDAN

Barry and Iris were spending the weekend with Wally a little over three months after Bruce adopted him. Iris was working Saturday to cover a shift when the reporter got sick, but Barry and Wally were having a ton of fun. They were messing around with Barry's spare chemical lab in the small building in the backyard. He was trying to teach Wally to work with the chemicals and things without being able to see them. It was hard work, but it was fun and it was helping Wally get even closer to his dream of becoming a forensic scientist.

That is, it was fun until Barry got a text from Iris saying that the Flash was needed downtown and that it was urgent otherwise she wouldn't have called. There were three Rogues robbing a bank and the regular police couldn't handle it. Barry had reluctantly whisked Wally out of the lab and settled him in the living room. He pulled out his phone and called a friend who he knew was in town to see if he could come watch Wally for however long it would take for the battle to take place. After securing the details, he ruffled Wally's hair one more time and then sped into his suit and out of the house.

Minutes later Hal Jordan swung into the driveway and pulled out his spare key. There was a child on the biggest couch in the living room, a bright red cane leaning against the couch next to him and large dark glasses poised on his nose. Hal paused. He had not been aware that the kid was blind. Huh, didn't matter.

Hal promptly noticed shirt that the kid (Wally, he was pretty certain Barry had said his name was) was wearing and he thought of a great plan. Before he could say anything, however, Wally said quietly, "Are you the person Uncle Barry asked to look after me while he's out?"

"Uh, yeah. I'm Hal Jordan, but you can call me Hal. Actually, you can call me Uncle Hal. Hey, I see you like the Flash based on that shirt you're wearing." Hal started enacting his plan.

It was slightly sickening to see the look of adoration on the kid's face when the Flash was mentioned and Hal mentally revised his plans. He was going to have to work hard and fast if wanted to finish this before Barry got home. The kid was completely brain washed to like the Flash and Hal was going to get him to idolize Green Lantern if it was the last thing he did. He sat down on a nearby chair and put his hands behind his head, commenting casually, "I don't know how you like Flash when there are Green Lanterns out there who are so much cooler."

When Barry came home, exhausted, almost an hour later (the Rogues were particularly annoying this day), he walked into the house to the sound of Wally reciting, "In brightest day, in blackest night, No evil shall escape my sight. Let those who worship evil's might, Beware my power… Green Lantern's Light!" He heard Hal and Wally high five and his face paled.

There was no way his friend would betray him like this. There was no way that Hal would get Wally to like Green Lantern more than the Flash. Bruce was already mad enough that Wally liked Flash over Batman and Oliver's constant attempts to get Wally to like Green Arrow the best and now Hal was adding himself into the mix with his Green Lantern conditioning. He already had Wally saying the Oath for Pete's sake. Barry stormed into the room. This was war now. He was going to convince Wally that the Flash was the best if it was the last thing he did.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another interlude chapter with random jazz.

WALLY'S FIRST CHRISTMAS IN THE WAYNE HOUSEHOLD

Bruce had invited friends and family to the Christmas party and, even though he was starting to regret a couple of the invitees, the regret all went away when he saw the bright smile on Wally's face. The boy was sitting in Selina's lap (Bruce wasn't entirely certain who invited her because she did come in with an invite, but Bruce suspected that Dick had something do with it) and Barry and Hal were fighting with each other over who was better with poor Iris sandwiched between them. Damian and Colin were curled up somewhere behind Selina with Talia looming behind them (Bruce also wasn't sure where she got the invitation, but he was pretty sure that Tim had something to do with that). Tim had Steph in his lap and they were kissing… vigorously. Alfred was talking with Dinah while Oliver was trying to get Roy to smile. Needless to say, he was not succeeding. Roy was ignoring Oliver in favor of talking to Dick, who was waving his hands around animatedly in his excitement. Cass was listening to Dick with a small smile on her face. Jason was standing guard next to Selina and Wally, seemingly prepared to interfere if she tried to corrupt him. Jason had been trying very hard to make Wally the perfect wingman and he didn't want anyone else corrupting his perfect partner in crime. Bruce thought it was adorable.

Time continued to fly and it was later in the night (after a very large dinner fit for a ton of superheroes, a villain, and two speedsters) when Dick shouted excitedly, "Presents! Come on, we have to open presents now! I've waited sooooo long!" The others laughed and Alfred started pulling the presents out. Wally had an expression of wonder on his face that he always had when someone got him something. He still wasn't used to presents or any sort of kindness that people might show him. It had been six months since he had adopted the vibrant red head and he had become more and more open. Bruce was pretty sure that only himself, Alfred, and Barry knew everything about Wally's past and he dreaded the day that the others found out about it.

He pushed the thought from his mind and decided to help Alfred hand out the presents. Everyone tore into them, cheering and sending glares (normally at Wally, Dick, and Roy) when appropriate. People threw hugs at each other and occasionally knives (normally from Damian aimed at his mother; Bruce wasn't sure if he approved or not). Finally, everyone turned their attention to Wally who was still opening his presents. It was one of the only things that he did slow and he did it excruciatingly slow. He always wanted to preserve the wrapping paper as a souvenir type thing. It was as annoying as it was adorable and sweet.

Wally finally finished opening all of his presents and then he started running his fingers across them to try to figure out what they all were. From Damian he got several weapons including a new cane that had a dragon resting on the top that, if you pulled the wing open, a catch would release and a sword would pull out of the cane with the wing as the hand guard. It was beautifully crafted. From Dick he got a Braille book of Harry Potter insults and another two books of Shakespearean insults and Doctor Who insults. Based on the grin they shot each other, there were some not 10 and 12 year old appropriate insults in there. Wally got a lot of Flash, Green Lantern, and Green Arrow merchandise for his room with retaliatory Red Arrow, Red Robin, and Batman merchandise from Roy, Steph, and Cass. Tim gave the young blind child another chemistry set for his room along with two new Braille chemistry textbooks. Selina gave Wally a cologne that she claimed wouldn't burn his nose the entire time he had it on. Talia (Bruce didn't think that she would get the youngest Wayne a present) gifted him with brand new black glasses that were much sleeker and Bruce was pretty sure there was some kind of weapon built into them based on the fact that Talia whispered something into Wally's ear and he grinned back in her direction. Dinah and Alfred both got him food and Iris gave him a key to the Allen house. Colin gave him a giant teddy bear that he claimed reminded him of the younger red head. Bruce decided to ignore that in favor of giving his youngest son his present. Wally smiled as their hands brushed and he recognized his father's calloused fingers.

He slowly opened the present and Bruce watched as he ran his fingers over the bumpy surface. He ran his fingers over it again and again as his brow furrowed in thought. Those standing close enough to see the present smiled as Wally continued to feel along the present. Eventually, he pulled his hand away and started methodically going over the picture one square inch at a time. Slowly, a smile spread across his face and he flipped to the next page in the little book. He felt it over again and his smile grew larger. He kept flipping through the pages, over and over again, going through each of the sheets and feeling them. When Wally finally tilted his head up at Bruce and that blinding grin that stretched across his entire face and made him look like a little angel, all the hard work that went into creating the present was worth it. Sitting in Wally's lap was a book that held pages with imprints in them of each of the people who were invited to the party. Wally could feel the edges that made the shapes of his friends and family because Bruce knew that it hurt Wally knowing that he didn't know what most of them looked like. Wally's smile lit up the room and soon everyone was smiling. It was beautiful.

WHEN WALLY BEAT DAMIAN FOR THE FIRST TIME

Jason watched as Damian and Wally fought with their escrima sticks, fighting and fighting and fighting. The battle kept going and the advantage kept shifting from one person to the next. One minute Wally lost his weapon but then he grabbed Damian's, but Damian swept under his blow and rolled to the side, grabbing Wally's abandoned stick.

Then, suddenly, Wally was winning. He swept his weapon to the side, deflecting Damian's stick to the side slightly and grabbing Damian's wrist. Before Damian could react, Wally struck Damian in the side with his escrima stick with unrivalled speed (Wally's training with Batman had made it so even without accessing his superpowers, he was still faster than the average person). Wally then turned slightly and disarmed Damian by striking him in the wrist. The stick clattered to the floor.

Damian reacted quickly, moving his hand in for a punch to Wally's face, but Wally moved his weapon hand up to block it, pulling on Damian's arm and striking his just above the elbow with his escrima stick. He moved in with a quick final blow with his elbow to the nerve cluster behind Damian's head. Momentarily stunned, Damian couldn't react when Wally grabbed one arm and then the other, using them to form a sort of lever system that he used flip the significantly larger Wayne over and onto the mat, holding him down until Jason counted to ten and called the game. Wally ran super speed across the room and into Jason's arms hugging him and whooping before rushing back to the mat and helping Damian stand up. Sometimes it was almost hard to tell that their youngest brother was blind the way he zipped around places without running into them. He knew that he had been training for the past ten months, but this was impressive. Damian laughed as he stood, "You only won because Talia gave you those glasses at Christmas."

"Did not!" Wally shouted, indignant, "You just can't admit that I'm too awesome for you!"

"Wait, what's up with the glasses that demon brat's mother gave you?" Jason butted in. He and Damian currently weren't on speaking terms, so Wally was their go between. Apparently he never minded being their messenger.

Wally answered brightly, "The glasses have this echolocation thing that they do where they make clicks that are fast enough to keep up with my brain but not just blur together and now I can just let that go and figure out based on the echoes where things are and how big they are and their general shapes and I'm getting better at finding out the densities too. It's so cool!"

"Why did I not know about this before?" Jason asked, slightly offended.

The goofy, confused expression Wally adopted melted something in Jason's heart (not that he'd ever admit it, of course) and he answered, "I didn't tell you before?"

"No doofus, you didn't. We are definitely going to do some cool stuff with that. Do you think you can echolocation to be a peeping Tom?" Jason grinned lewdly at Wally just to get Damian to give him that glare he was giving him just then.

"Um… what?" Tim asked from the doorway, Steph on his arm and Cass, Dick, and Roy trailing behind them. It was slightly amazing how often other people could just trail into the manor without anyone caring about it.

Wally's face brightened even further and he grinned, "I beat Damian! I beat Damian!" They all started laughing and cheering him while Colin came out of nowhere and hugged Damian from behind. Jason then saw Bruce smiling behind them all in the door to the training room. Jason would deny what happened next for the rest of his life. Bruce turned and saw him and they smiled at each other. In hindsight, it was sickening and Jason still isn't entirely convinced that he wasn't under mind control at the time. And, of course, Grayson got it on camera because he is a freaking creeper and carries his stupid camera all over the place to take embarrassing pictures. Although, it was mildly impressive how quickly he gets the camera out to take the pictures. Jason laughed to himself and shook his head. Their family had certainly gotten much more interesting after Wally joined.

WALLY'S FIRST HERO SUIT

The look on Wally's face when Bruce told him that he could start fighting crime with them was one of the most amazing things that Damian had seen (unless you count anything that had to do with Colin; he would always win). Bruce told the blind soon to be hero that he would have to create his own suit and that Alfred would either make or get in contact with someone who would make the suit, but he had to design it first. Wally was beyond ecstatic. He had nodded enthusiastically while Bruce gave him the customary speech that they had all gotten before they made their costumes. The expression on the red head's face made one think that he wasn't paying attention, but after knowing him for almost a year now, Damian could tell that he really was paying attention because this was important to him and he always payed attention when thought something was important.

Finally, Bruce finished his spiel and Wally zipped upstairs, scooping Dick up, wrestling a squeal from the slightly older boy. Damian could hear the door to Wally's room fling closed and he sighed to himself. Knowing the two of them, the color scheme of the suit was going to be a disaster. He was obviously going to have to go help them. He strode around for a little bit, debating if he really wanted to go in there when two of the terrible trio (the nickname they gave Roy, Dick, and Wally) were together. There was no way they were doing this by themselves.

When he finally got to their room, Wally was in his chair at his desk, drawing in his Green Lantern drawing book. Dick was crouched on top of the desk, leaning over and giggling before making comments that would cause Wally to giggle and mess up a line. He would then scowl in Dick's general direction and go back to drawing. Damian wasn't entirely certain how Wally drew, but when he had asked the one time, Wally had said something about being able to smell the graphite where he drew and being able to feel the dips in the wind pattern where the pencil pushed into the paper. Damian didn't really understand, but he was still impressed by Wally's drawing skills. It was one of those things that Wally secretly loved to do, but would never willingly tell someone.

Damian walked over and leaned against Wally's bed frame, looking at the costume so far. It… actually wasn't that bad. Damian was mildly impressed actually. Written across the top of the page was the word SWIFT. The former assassin smiled to himself. A swift was one of the fastest birds on Earth. Apparently Wally was trying to stay in touch with his speedster side and the bird theme that the family had going on. There was a cape made out of the same material as Batman's cape: memory cloth and it was labelled as being gray with the slightly bluish, purplish, greenish tinges of a chimney swift bird. The cape would work as a glider as he flew off of buildings and the like. The boots looked to be military grade and made with the same material that the Flash used for his boots. They were black and had the option of knife ejection at the tip of the boot, reminiscent of talons. He had slick black goggles with an echolocation device perched on either side of the goggles. The suit itself was a dark gray with lighter gray highlights hiding the Kevlar. The outside material was made of the same material that Flash used stretched over the Kevlar. Around his waist was the customary utility belt that all Bats use and keep on them at all time. It was a Bat secret where they put it so no one could see it but they could still easily access it. Not that much of what they did wasn't a Bat secret.

Damian shook his head and looked back at the suit. There were smoky black gloves that went up to his wrist and sported a gauntlet computer on one arm and several hidden knives on the other. Held in the suit's arm was a black cane with a silver dragon settled on the top. Damian smiled to himself when he recognized the gift he had gotten his brother for his first Christmas here. The cane would work as the sword and as the escrima stick. Damian counted several other hidden weapons on the suit. He smirked when he tuned back into the conversation and heard Robin exclaim, "Your red hair won't go with the suit though!"

Wally refuted hotly, "You don't understand how amazing it is to feel the wind going through your hair when you're going super speed! My hair needs to be free!"

"Uncle Barry's hair is covered!" Robin responded.

Damian wasn't entirely certain when Grayson started calling Barry that, but decided to ignore it in favor of saying, "Father has hair spray that will make it seem like your hair is black. That way your identity is better disguised and it matches the suit and you get to leave your hair out." The expressions of pure hero worship sent his direction caused him to puff out his chest a little and stick his nose partially into the air to show his superiority.

Then there was a moment of furious scribbling that was so fast that Damian was slightly surprised that the paper hadn't been set on fire and then Wally showed his two older brothers the final result. The top of the suit covered most of his face, the goggles resting on the top part of the mask. His ears were covered by dark gray hard spots with light gray wings flat against the head. There was a comm built into one of the ears and the other had a hearing aid type thing to correct for the hearing lost due to the comm in his other ear. Overall, it was quite the impressive suit and Damian knew that it would fit him perfectly. Dick high fived him and Damian just smiled before heading back to his room. He was going to get Colin to come over and they would watch a movie or something. Also, Damian mused as he walked across the hallway to his room, Wally's mainly lighter suit would greatly brighten the popular opinion of the Bat family. Now everyone would see the light Wally brought with him everywhere he goes.

WHEN WALLY BECAME THE FLASH'S SIDEKICK

Swift swept through the broken down warehouse, trying to avoid the pieces of debris his echo locator was telling him was falling around him. He could hear them whooshing around him, displacing the air around him as he ran. He did a baseball slide under the broken garage door of the warehouse and then stood up and continued running. Apparently some of Joker's current goons were running around and he and Robin were supposed to take them down while Batman and Nightwing took down Joker. It was a pretty good plan, but even good plans had to take a turn for the worse.

It took them a week to find him. Robin had spent almost every minute of that time looking for his little brother. He only slept when the exhaustion overtook him and he couldn't keep his eyes open. He only ate when Alfred forced him to stop and eat. All the other Waynes were the same. By the time they got the hint they had been looking for, they were all bone weary and tired, but it didn't stop them from going out to rescue him.

When they found him, it wasn't a pretty sight, but they had prepared for that. A week in the hands of the Joker can't ever be good. His head was hanging down to his chest, dark purpling bruises in the shape of fingers on either side of his jaw. There were rope burns on his neck and his wrists and ankles were bleeding from the tightness of the cuffs that were around them (Wally, unfortunately, hadn't been able to master vibrating through things yet and it had cost him dearly). There were cuts all along his suit with healing scabs and Robin could tell by the way his legs and arms and fingers were sitting that the Joker had taken a crowbar to him as was his MO. Then came one of the worst parts of being kidnapped by the Joker; Wally's suit was ripped open at the chest, exposing a shakily carved J on his left breast, right above his heart. Then Robin's eyes moved a little to the right and he was horrified to see something else on his chest. The little gasps from his siblings told him that he wasn't the only one who saw it. There, in the center of his chest, someone (Robin distantly realized that it was from long ago, before they knew him probably) had carved the Flash symbol on his chest. Robin wondered how he didn't know that it was there even after almost two years of being his brother.

Before anyone could voice their questions, Joker came out from a door to the side, laughing with his switchblade held in one hand and his crowbar in the other. Both were covered in Wally's dry blood. Needless to say, it didn't take long for the Joker to be taken down.

When Wally finally woke up after being treated (everyone had heard his screams as his bones were reset and they had valiantly tried to ignore it), the others crowded into his room and they all talked for hours. Bruce didn't say much and Dick could tell that Bruce had something that he was trying to say, but didn't want to say. Eventually Tim brought up the question they had all been avoiding, "Wally, what happened to your chest? Before… before the Joker, of course."

Wally stilled and they all stilled with him, worried that Tim had gone too far. Then Wally took a deep breath and began to talk. He told them about the abuse he had suffered at the hands of his father and the neglect had suffered at the hands of his mother. He told them about the bullies at school and constant fear he lived in. He told them about the excruciating pain of being electrocuted into a pool of mixed chemicals and about waking up from a coma with superpowers. He told them about his father carving the image into his chest and calling him a freak and blinding him. He gave them the story about his life in the orphanage. It took several people to stop Jason from hunting his parents down and finding Father Gregory and the bullies from his old school. It took the rest of the family to restrain Damian from doing the same thing. Robin was just… numb. He hadn't known that his little brother had been through all of this and he couldn't believe that Wally was still so strong even after all that he had gone through. It didn't take long after Wally started crying for others to start crying too and it was generally just depressing.

After the conversation had taken a lighter turn, Bruce cleared his throat and said, "I have something to tell you Wally." Dick could tell from the tilt of Wally's head and the expression of worry that took over his face that Wally was picking up on Bruce's discomfort. He nodded for Bruce to continue and he did, "The Joker issued a statement as I was taking him into the police station. He said that as long as Swift was in Gotham, he would keep trying to get Swift for himself. He has some convoluted idea that he's going to make you into some Joker Junior. He won't stop until he gets it either. I don't think it's safe for you to fight crime in Gotham anymore. The Flash is willing to take you on as a partner in Central City and you can keep your suit the same as it is. Joker said that he would not come after you if you leave Gotham."

Robin had never seen Wally angry before that day. Wally had become sad and slightly peeved, but he had the natural speedster attitude that was just too cheerful for life and someone pulled everyone together. But now, Wally launched up in his bed and started vibrating he was so angry. He tried to get words out, but ended up with them stuck in his throat. After a second of pause, he swept out of bed and raced down the stairs and out of the house. He hadn't done that in a couple of months, but Dick knew where he was. The acrobat threw himself out of house after his younger brother and ran to the tree where Wally had run that first day at the Wayne manor. He leapt up the tree and found his brother sobbing on the same branch he had gone to every time he was upset. And, just like all those days, Dick let Wally lean into him and sob for a while until he finally stopped and they talked. Dick explained to him about why Bruce said what he said and he showed all of the good things that came with the situation. Wally told Dick about his reservations and they talked everything out until Wally fell asleep. Dick gently held Wally and brought him down from the tree. Damian was waiting at the bottom of the tree like usual and he carried Wally home. Dick knew that Jason and Damian would sleep in Wally's room that night and that Jason and Damian wouldn't wake up in time to stop Dick from taking a picture of them. It was just what always happened.

Three days later, Dick and Cass were watching TV in the living room when they saw the BREAKING NEWS flash across the screen. It flipped to a grainy picture that was obviously someone's cell phone camera that showed the Flash running alongside Swift. After the robberies, Flash and Swift stood side by side and announced their new partnership to the world. There were a lot of questions about why Swift would leave Gotham and Wally just quirked a smile and said, "Central City is more my speed, so I figured I'd hang out with my fellow speedster and mentor here instead." He gave a small shrug and a bright smile and everyone laughed at the corny joke that was so Central City. Wally had brought his light to another part of the world.

HOW WALLY MET THE ROGUES

Flash sped down the alleyway and came out into the streets just in time to meet up with Swift who was running between the cars so fast and so gracefully that no one would be able to tell that he was completely blind. Wally grinned at Barry and shouted over the wind, "I'm getting way faster, Flash! Pretty soon I'll beat you on our grand races!" The two of them ran races around the world twice a month and had been doing that since he became the Flash's partner a couple of months ago.

Barry was about to answer when there was a call over his comms. It was Iris calling it and letting him know about a Rogues attack on the Flash museum a couple of streets over. She was supposed to cover it and she wanted to make sure that he knew about it. Flash thanked her and smiled goofily like he always did when she called him because she was perfect and she was his wife and he loved her. Wally turned to Barry and ran sideways for a second before turning again at the last minute to avoid a collision with a telephone pole (the time that happened had been embarrassing for both of them). He called out, "Are we going to go deal with that, or are you going to take that by yourself?" Barry had been avoiding letting Wally meet the Rogues after his interaction with the Joker.

Flash hesitated for a moment before saying, "Why don't you have your first Rogue encounter, kid? I'm sure we can take them down easily together, yeah?" He thought it was finally time. He knew, logically, that Wally had faced a ton of hard opponents in Gotham and that he was probably more than ready to face off against the big Central baddies. Wally grinned brightly at him and they did a quick U-turn, running in the direction of the Flash museum.

Flash stopped quickly, watching Swift skid to a stop next to him. The kid hadn't quite gotten used to stopping quickly. He wasn't able to connect stopping with the correct scents of locations and so he had to skid. It was endearing according to news reporters that always flocked around Swift. The Rogues were just about to leave the museum, hands filled with the money made from merchandise at the gift shop. They stopped and smirked at Flash, but then they saw Swift standing next to them and their mouths hung open. Captain Cold laughed, "Couldn't handle us yourself, Flasher? You had to bring Kiddie Flash with you?"

"Kiddie Flash?" Wally spluttered behind him.

Barry simply ruffled Wally's dyed black hair and said, "I could handle it myself, but why should I when the two of us can do it two times faster." He added a winning smile at the end and Cold just smirked back. Then he pulled out his cold gun and made a shot.

As first battles go, Swift didn't do half bad against the Rogues. He was a little slower than usual reacting to the blasts because he wasn't used to villains who fought against a speedster weekly and were used to shooting fast enough to hit something running faster than a speeding bullet. He always connected his hits, using his escrima stick with blinding speed and bruising force and he took the villains down about as easily as Flash himself did. It must be convenient to have super speed and Bat training. There was no one else in the world who could boast that mixture. Once the villains were all taken down, Flash waited for the police to come back with Belle Reeve level transport vehicles and decided to introduce Wally to the peculiarities of his new villains.

"Hey Rogues, say hi to Swift. He's your new hero! Swift, this is Captain Cold, Captain Boomerang, Trickster, Pied Piper, Heatwave, and finally, Mirror Master." Flash smiled at his villains and they glared back.

Eventually, Captain Cold sighed and said, "Hey kid, how old are you anyways? You look too young to be fighting crime out here in Central."

Swift bristled and said, "I'm old enough to fight crime in Gotham, so I'm old enough to do it here."

Piper's eyebrows rose and he said, "No need to get so defensive Swift, jeez. This is just friendly villain hero conversation while waiting for the police to get here. I think it's nice to have a hero who's a teen like me."

Barry couldn't help it when he accidently said, "Not quite a teen yet." He paled and whispered, "Bats is going to kill me," low enough that only Wally would be able to hear him. Wally was giving him a look that, if he had eyes, would be a terrifying Bat Glare. Actually, it still was a pretty terrifying Bat Glare.

From the ground where they were handcuffed around a pole and sitting on the ground, Trickster gasped dramatically and his eyes filled with crocodile tears, "Kiddie Flash isn't Kiddie Flash anymore? He's actually Baby Flash?"

Wally turned his murderous expression on Trickster and said, "It's neither. It's Swift."

Trickster's attitude did a complete 180 and he chirped, "You're going to come play darts with me in the hospital after I'm arrested and you're going to play darts with me at the bar once I get out, right? You have to because you're a hero and that means that you help people and if you help people, that means that you'll spend my time playing darts so I can't go out and steal stuff, right?"

Barry was still trying to muddle through the kid's logic when Wally answered, "Sure, Trickster. It'll be fun."

"What?" Barry spluttered, "You can't just play darts with your villains! That doesn't make any sense!"

"But what Trickster said makes sense! I'll be helping people and it'll fun and that way I can practice throwing things too! It's a win-win all around. How can you say no, Flash?" Wally flashed (pun intended) him his puppy dog face and Barry just melted. The only person he had seen resist that face was Bruce when he was Batman and Alfred, but no one could resist it when Wally and Dick got together and both used their puppy dog faces on them at the same time. It was pure evil personified as an adorable kicked puppy with giant cute eyes. There was no resisting that.

Barry muttered, "Fine, you can play darts with Trickster. I'll show you the bar and the hospital. The police are here, so I'll show you now." He pointedly ignored Trickster and Swift's twin whoops and instead chose to speed off. Even the villains of Central were attracted to Wally's huge personality and personal bright light that could make anyone feel better. Looking back at the bliss on Wally's face, Barry couldn't help but think about how perfect it was the he was adopted by Bruce. There was a chance that his light would have been blown out by now if Bruce hadn't found him that night and saved him. Oh well, Barry thought, no use wondering about what could have been. He just needed to focus on the wind in his hair and the smile on Wally's face.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They go to Cadmus and Superboy shows up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In hindsight, I called Roy Red Arrow in previous chapters. That was not intended. He is actually Speedy currently, not Red Arrow (I'm just so used to calling him that; my bad!). Oh, also, Dick is 15 now and Wally is 13. The hair spray is basically a latex type substance that coats the hair and clings to it basically no matter what. It's flame resistant, but with a certain shampoo type thing, it washes off. Boom. Fantastic Wayne Tech technology.

WWWWWW

"Flash, Flash, Flash, Flash!" Wally continued in super speed, avoiding Cold's blasts. He swept around the growing ice patch and ducked under another blast, going in for a hit, but being blocked by a sudden wall of ice that his echo locator informed him of.

"What, what, what, what?" Barry asked back just as fast. Wally could hear the laughter in his voice and he sent his uncle a petulant expression.

Determining that he wasn't going to get any sympathy from his mentor, Wally turned to Cold and came back down from super speed talk, whining pitifully, "C'mon Cold! Why'd you have to do this today? You could have done it yesterday or tomorrow, but no… you just had to do it today!"

Cold chuckled and shot another blast at him, saying, "Are you saying you don't want to see your Uncle Len? I'm disappointed, kid!" His next shot was aimed at Barry. The Flash gracefully twirled out of the way, speeding around and around, keeping Len's weapon trained on him. Wally went in for the punch. He slipped on some ice for a moment, but eventually gained his ground again (it was actually Uncle Len who had taught him to run on ice… the Rogues were really weird in hindsight) and kept going. Cold realized what was going on just in time to turn around and take the full brunt of the punch right in his face. Wally winced and whispered, "Sorry!" to his fallen villain. He and Flash got Cold secured in the back of a police car and Wally whined again, "Can we go yet?"

"I don't know." Barry pretended to think, "Those reporters look like they want to talk to us and the police probably want a statement from the both of us." At the exasperated expression Wally graced Barry with, the older man laughed again and ruffled Wally's sprayed black hair before smiling, "We can go now. Race you!"

It took less than a nanosecond for the statement to register and then another third of a nanosecond to realize that Barry had already started running and then he was off, flying across the countryside, listening to the echoes that warned him of incoming objects and feeling the wind fly across his face and through his hair. He grinned as he felt Barry's wind vibrations in front of him. He was gaining! Wally was going to get to see Robin and Batman and Speedy and Green Arrow! Aqualad and Aquaman were going to be there too. Even though Swift didn't know them as well as he knew the others, it was still going to be good to see them. Wally snorted when he realized that Aquaman and Aqualad were the only two heroes who were going to be there who didn't know his secret identity. There really weren't a lot of heroes who were privy to that information.

Barry pulled to a stop a couple of seconds (which is actually quite a long time to a speedster) before Wally skidded to a stop next to him. He groaned when he felt the presence of the other heroes, "I told you we were going to be late!" Barry simply shrugged next to him and Wally turned a dour expression on him. He didn't seem particularly bothered by it. He smiled to his friends before Ollie said, "Ready to see the Hall of Justice boys?"

They nodded and started walking by the sides of their mentors, listening as the people whispered around them, "Is that the Flash's sidekick, Speedy?" "No, stupid, Speedy is Green Arrow's sidekick!" "…That doesn't make any sense." "Who's Flash's partner then?" "I'm pretty sure his name's Kid Flash!"

When they finally got into the Hall of Justice and didn't have to be so serious and… heroic, Wally sighed to Flash, "I entirely blame the Rogues for this. If they would just call me Swift and not Kid Flash or Baby Flash or Flasher Baby or Flash Junior, I wouldn't have this problem!"

The others all laughed and Wally put on his best pouting face even though he was smiling inside. Six years ago when he still lived with his parents, complaining like that (even in a joking manner) would have gotten him beaten so badly that he wouldn't be able to go to school the next day. Four or five years ago, a comment like that would have gotten his food taken away for days and he'd probably be on the receiving end of one of Father Gregory's… fits. Now, he had no problem making himself the brunt of the jokes and generally being annoying because it was part of the Swift charm and it was part of what made Wally West-Wayne, well, Wally West-Wayne.

Just then, the screen towards the back of the room started buzzing and he heard a distorted version of Zatara's voice filled the room. Wally assumed that he was contacting them via computer. Zatara's voice continued, "-is attempting to block out the sun. Immediate assistance is required."

Batman nodded to him and the buzzing stopped. Apparently the feed was cut. Not a second later, the buzzing started again and this time it was Superman's voice being distorted through the computer, "Batman. There's a small fire at a Cadmus facility near you."

Wally could hear the frown in Batman's voice when he responded, "There was always something off about Cadmus, but right now there is a larger threat. Is there absolute need of League assistance?" That was news to Wally. He hadn't known that Batman was looking into Cadmus. He wrinkled his nose in concern; what else was Batman hiding from his partners. Or, er, former partners in his case.

Superman hesitated before responding, "It's only a small fire. I'm sure the local firemen can handle it."

Batman responded, "Good." He turned to the younger heroes and said, "Stay here."

"That's it?!" Roy exclaimed, anger darkening into that tone that he knew scared Wally, but he was apparently too mad to care at the moment. Before any of the senior heroes could respond, Roy shouted, "This isn't even your real base! You meet up in the Watchtower up in space! This is just some bogus thing for tourists!"

"Now Speedy," Green Arrow began. Swift walked over to where Robin was flopped onto a chair and comforted himself with the increased scent of his older brother. Ollie continued, "It's an honor to be in here. No one else has gotten this far."

"What about them? The tourists can see everything! They might as well be able in here or we might as well be up there! When are you going to show us the real stuff?" Roy accused. The way his voice was directed and the place Oliver's voice had come from told Wally that the two of them were right in each other's face, shouting. They had had arguments like this before, but never this intense. This was serious.

Flash apparently thought so as well because he stepped in by saying, "This is just the first step. Now, we really gotta get going. So, how about you guys just stay here and look around the Justice League archives. I've heard there are some great books here! Not quite to you level, though, Swift." The last sentence served two purposes by trying to cut the tension, but also letting Wally know that none of the books were Braille. Wally had tried reading just be smelling where the ink was, but that didn't work, so he tried feeling the difference between the ink and the paper and use that to determine the shape of the letter before moving on to the next letter. In a pinch, he could read like that, but it would take him way longer to read that than it would be to just read Braille. Tim was working on an encoder for his goggles so he could press a button and it would scan the paper he held and it would read out what the paper said in his earpiece. It wasn't quite ready yet.

Wally was brought back into the conversation when he heard something soft and seemingly made of cloth hit the floor. He lifted his head up and tilted it toward the person who through the cloth thing down (Wally's echo locator informed him that based on the shape and size of the person, it was Roy). Roy growled out, "I won't stand around and take this. I'm not Speedy any longer. I'm Red Arrow and I'm not Green Arrow's sidekick. You guys going to come with me?"

None of the sidekicks spoke. They glanced in each other's directions, but stayed silent. Roy couldn't really be asking that of them, could he? Even though Kaldur wasn't like a brother to Roy like Wally and Dick were, but he had to know that Kaldur couldn't just leave his king. His King was his everything. And he couldn't possibly be asking Dick and Wally to stop, could they? Their father was one of the founding members of the Justice League and Wally's uncle was another one of the seven founders. They grew up with the Justice League; they couldn't possibly ever leave that. He knew how important family was to them! Apparently Roy was too mad to care at the moment because he huffed out a laugh and said, "Fine. Be that way. Keep playing sidekick to all the heroes and let them walk all over you. See if I care. Come talk to me when you want to be a real hero." With that, he stormed out of the room. Wally could still hear the echoes bouncing off of the hat on the ground.

Aquaman cleared his throat and said, "We still need to go. The sun is about to blocked out by super villains."

Oliver laughed awkwardly and said, "Why don't you three just stay here and look around. Maybe read something." Wally could hear the wince in his voice as he continued, "Well, maybe that wouldn't be the best choice. Um, maybe, just-,"

He was cut off by Batman growling, "Stay. Here." Then Wally heard the swish of a cape and four sets of footsteps as the adults all left.

The three sidekicks were left standing in awkward silence until he heard Robin start clicking at something on the computer. Swift flew over to Robin's side and asked cheekily, "Whatcha up to?"

Kaldur came up behind Swift and waited while Robin continued to click away. Wally could imagine the cackling Robin faces that were filling the screen. Robin had given him another page for his edge book that had his hacking symbol so he knew what it looked like. Finally, Robin's clicks stopped and he started reading off the screen. It took Wally a moment to realize that it was an address. He asked quickly, "Is that the address for Cadmus?" He was glad he was smart because then he could guess pretty easily what people were seeing because if he didn't have the brains to figure it out he'd sound pretty really stupid.

Robin said, "Yep. If Batman thinks that there's something going on with Cadmus, then it can't hurt to check it out. If there's nothing there, then at least we'll help the locals with the fire. If there is something, then we'll find stuff for Batman. How whelming is that?"

Wally tilted his head towards Robin and said, "Whelming? Didn't you just create that one this morning?"

"Yeah, but someone claimed one time that if you say a word you just learned at least six times the day you learn it, you'll always remember it." Robin informed him.

Swift simply shook his head and muttered, "If you say so dude. So, are we heading out, or not?"

Kaldur spoke hesitantly in that voice of his that always reminded Wally of waves crashing against a soft beach, "Our mentors told us to stay put, should we not do as they say?"

Swift and Robin could hear his resolve cracking and they grinned at each other and then turned their collective grinning/pleading/puppy dog expressions onto Kaldur, full force. No one could possibly resist that. Kaldur sighed and said,"Let us go then." Robin and Swift high-fived and then they were off.

DDDDDD

Robin was not whelmed (hey, that's three times for the day, only three more and he'd never forget it). Things had gone from mildly revolutionary to bad to weird to bad again and then to really bad and then to really, really bad. That's where they were at right then. Wally was getting slammed into walls and basically using himself as a huge distraction. Superboy (and that was where the weird had come in; the kid looked the same as Uncle Clark's pictures of his younger self but that was normal if Superboy was a clone which he was… but it was still weird) was basically smashing a ton of stuff and yelling a lot which was so not helping the situation. Kaldur and himself were still a little out of it from being freaking electrocuted and have their blood drawn earlier while someone tried to make them into clones (Dick didn't even want to imagine how mad Batman would be if they went and got themselves cloned). Swift had the help of super speed healing to pull himself back together, but the other two didn't.

Dick hid behind a pillar and thought. How could he turn this situation around? He was pretty sure he heard Wally yell, "I got your nose!" in the background and leaned around the pillar to see that his younger brother did, in fact, have Blockbuster's nose. That was so not whelming (only two more times and he'd have it memorized) and completely gross.

Wait. Pillars. Dick's mind went momentarily into overdrive and he leaned back around the pillar and shouted, "C'mere guys!" He did some quick calculations while the others made their way over to him, dodging falling plaster and giant Blockbuster fists. When they got there, he explained his plan, Wally making him promise to explain the math whenever they got together again and weren't fighting for their lives. Dick smiled and high fived Wally before everyone moved to positions and started enacting the plans.

Bit by bit the pillars fell around them until, finally, Blockbuster was right on top of the chalk X and the ceiling collapsed. When the dust finally started clearing, Wally excitedly grabbed Superboy's arm and tugged him forward a little bit, pointing up at the moon (Dick noticed that it was way off, but decided to not comment on it since no one else seemed to notice) and saying, "Look! We promised you the moon, didn't we?" His head tilted and he said, "Hey, Superman too. Do we make good on our promises or what?"

Dick looked up and saw that Superman was, indeed, close enough to easily make out features. Wally probably heard the wind swish around him or something and deduced who it was (that would impress Dick until the end of time). Then, following Superman came the rest of the Justice League. One of the Green Lanterns put Batman down and Flash came zipping up behind him. Batman's customary scowl was in place, but it was one of the more severe ones that promised weeks of cleaning the Bat Cave and the Batmobile. He spoke up, "Let's just get one thing straight-,"

He was interrupted by the Flash saying, "You should have called!" Dick was whelmed (he only had to say it one more time) that Uncle Barry wasn't mad. He was scared, terrified even, because he was worried that he could have lost his nephew, but he wasn't mad. Dick was pretty sure that no one had seen a speedster get truly mad.

Batman turned and narrowed his eyes at Barry, who immediately raised his hands and backed up slowly. Batman turned back to the assembled teens and said, "The three of you-,"

He was interrupted again by Swift slinging an arm around Superboy's shoulder and saying firmly, "The four of us."

The glare that Batman turned on Wally was significantly less harsh, but a glare nonetheless. His voice was tense as he said, "The four of you should have stayed where you were. This would have all been resolved in time. You needlessly put yourselves and others in danger."

"But we did good work, didn't we?" Wally pleaded with his father. Batman nodded hesitantly.

"We did great work. The work we were trained to do. We cannot help people to the full extent of our abilities if you do not let us use what you taught us. We made a great team and we forged something powerful. We will not be disbanding this team." Aqualad said from somewhere to the left of Wally and Dick smiled at him.

Then Aquaman said, "Stand down, Aqualad."

Kaldur's response surprised everyone, "My apologies, my King, but I will not."

Batman's voice left no room for arguments when he said, "We'll think about it. You all need to get to an infirmary and living arrangements need to be assigned for Superboy until we find a more permanent home for him." Everyone nodded and went their separate ways. Superman had left some time ago to put Blockbuster in some jail. Oliver was talking to Superboy and Robin caught something about an extra room before Ollie started leading the clone away. Swift zipped up to Superboy and said goodbye in a bright voice before zipping back over to Barry.

Well, Dick thought. That night was certainly one of the more whelming (he finally said it six times; it was now permanently ingrained in his memory) ones he's experienced, but it was fun nonetheless. Aqualad was right when he said that they made a great team. He had no doubt in his mind that Batman would let the team become an actual team (he had allowed it with Tim, but that was more because Tim had run away and formed it without really letting anyone know). He was definitely excited for it.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Team is formed and villains are creepy.

DDDDDD

"I mean, yeah, we probably could have been a bit more volutionary, but we still did a great job!" Damian heard Dick's voice exclaim as he, Wally, and Bruce came up into the parlor from the Bat Cave. Colin and Damian curled on the couch, content to observe as the three argued over whatever it was they were arguing over.

Wally waved slightly to the two and then tilted his head and asked, "Volutionary?"

Dick turned to Wally and answered matter of factly, "If revolutionary is going against your oppressors, then wouldn't it make sense if volutionary was going with your oppressors?"

Ignoring Father's indignant comment about not being an oppressor, Wally snorted and said, "Dude, you just thought of whelming this morning. Did you have to come up with another one the same day?"

"Uh, it actually, like, four in the morning the next day thank you very much." Dick sniffed in response.

"Jeez, sorry!" Wally raised his hands in surrender, "My timing's always off with the speedster stuff, so I always guess low on time."

Dick nodded sagely and there was a moment's pause where Bruce just stared at them in exasperation before he finally said, "I believe we were still talking about the fact that the two of you and Aqualad broke into Cadmus, going against my direct orders to stay in the Hall of Justice."

"They what?" Damian demanded from behind them, arching an eyebrow while Colin just snuggled closer to him. Dick waved and Damian nodded to him.

Father just sighed and responded, "Your brothers were upset about not being able to go all the way to the Watchtower today, so they decided to go against an order and they went to the Cadmus labs to put out a fire. They ended up discovering a teenaged Superman clone that goes by the name of Superboy and they found a scientist who had turned himself into a monster that we're codenaming Blockbuster. They then destroyed the entire building and said that they didn't regret what they did and that they wanted the Justice League to recognize the four of them as a team." He had that clipped tone of voice that said that he just wanted to go to sleep and not deal with any of this until the morning.

Damian held in his scolding until later and asked, "Was Blockbuster apprehended?"

"Yep! Rob came up with a plan to defeat it. By the way, you still need to show me the math for that." Wally chirped. He was much too happy for the state he was in. His suit was ripped all up and down the sides and Robin wasn't much better. They were both rather grimy looking.

Robin looked like he was about to start answering Wally's question and Father looked like he was tempted to murder one of them if he did. Damian was content to let the scene play out, but Colin interrupted sleepily, "Why don't you wait until later for that? In my opinion, you should form the team. Make it some special ops secret ninja group or something like that." Damian was certain that if Colin was more awake he would never have said that in the presence of Batman of whom he was terrified.

Wally beamed and said, "I love your boyfriend Dami."

Damian just sighed and swept his boyfriend off the couch, heading towards his room and muttering, "I don't know what I put up with all of this drama. I'm old enough and rich enough to go live on my own."

He just heard Bruce sighing and saying, "Fine. We'll form a special ops team of teenaged superheroes that will operate undercover. Remember that you're respective cities will come before your duties on this new team. You'll operate out of Mount Justice. I'll figure out the rest when I wake up. Go get Alfred to check over your injuries and then go to sleep boys. I'll see you in the morning. Good night."

He waited, a sleeping Colin in his arms, for his father to catch up to him on the staircase and then he started walking again, "Are you sure this is a good idea? Dick and Wally spending time with a group of super human teenagers who are trained to be smart and figure things out? It won't be long before at least one of the others finds out who they really are and once their secret identities are out in the open, the rest of ours will be as well. Are you really ready to risk that?"

Bruce looked back towards where they could hear Wally and Dick talking excitedly with Alfred and smile graced his father's features as he said, "For them, yes." Father continued to his room while Damian put his boyfriend down on the bed and sat next to him, a smile curling his own lips. Those two were such troublemakers and yet so adorable at the same time.

BBBBBB

Bruce still wasn't entirely certain that this whole team idea was a good one, but he had already gotten the Justice League to help him fix the mountain up (placing his own cameras and bugs as he went) and place wards and other things to make sure that the kids would be safe. They set up rooms for each of the kids with a bunch of extra rooms just in case some of the Leaguers decided to crash there. Most everything was sound proofed and weapons were hidden along the walls. It was as good as they were going to get it.

He had easily convinced Dinah to train them and be their counselor when needed. It hadn't taken much and she was happy to help, especially since she just lost Roy. He was in the wind, fighting crime on his own and making a name as Red Arrow. He had left the Queen residence and Oliver was a mess about it. It hadn't taken much convincing to get Red Tornado to watch after Superboy who would stay in the mountain permanently. He was to become what Dick dubbed as a 'Den Mother' to the team.

Batman explained all of that to Kaldur, Superboy, Wally, and Dick and then told them that they had a new member. Wally had zipped over to where the girl was standing, quickly introducing himself as Swift. Bruce saw Dick whisper something in Wally's ear, probably explaining what Miss Martian looked like to his blind younger brother. He narrowed his eyes at Superboy, but the clone gave no indication that he had heard the interaction. It didn't take long for Wally to drag Superboy into the conversation, smiling and laughing and looking like he was having the time of his life. They all quickly relocated into the kitchen, still joking around. Bruce could tell that some tensions were pretty high and knew that his kids knew it as well and that they would do their best to dispel that lingering discomfort.

Bruce was distracted from his musings by Flash zipping up behind him and saying, "Hey Bats, can I talk to you privately for a moment?" The others looked at them with worry scrawled across their faces. Barry was rarely as serious as he was right then and he normally had no qualms about letting the others know what he wanted to talk about. Batman just nodded and stalked towards one of the sound proofed rooms. He turned to face Flash as the man shut the door behind him. He had a feeling that this had something to do with Wally.

His theory was confirmed when Barry swept off his cowl and sighed deeply before saying, "Mary West is filing for a retrial. She's requested for parole. A buddy of mine in the prison she's in said that, based on her behavior, it's very likely that she's going to be approved. That could spell out bad things for Wally. Of course, she won't be allowed to go near him for at least a year until her probation period ends, but still…" Barry trailed off, running a hand behind his neck and rubbing it the same way Wally always did.

Batman was silent, thinking about his youngest. He remembered the thin, frail state he had been in when they first met. Wally had been so pale, so gaunt, his vibrant hair dulled and his smile almost nonexistent. He had been wearing ratty, torn clothing that were almost too small for his already small form.

Then he thought about how he was right then in the other room with the other superheroes. His red hair would be dyed black and there would be a bright smile on his face and a laugh bubbling up in his throat. He wasn't gaunt anymore and he was a little less pale. He had developed muscles and was trained to take care of anything that tried to take him down. He had weapons hidden all over his suit, a cane that doubled as a sword strapped to one of his legs. Wally was so much happier, so much brighter now and Bruce would do anything to make sure that he stayed that happy, bright boy that he loved so much. Bruce nodded to Barry and said, "I'll make sure that I get my best lawyers to work against her appeal. Thank you for telling me." Barry nodded back and zoomed out of the room. Bruce rubbed a hand over his face, pinching his nose and sighing. Well, he better get working.

VVVVVV

Vandal Savage looked at the fellow members of the Light that were sitting around the room with him. All of them had various expressions of anger and frustration twisting their features. None of them were happy about the loss of Superboy. They had finally managed to find someone who got the DNA right and now they lost their asset. It was all do to those stupid kids too! At least if it were the Justice League that had taken their asset, it would have been an understandable loss, but this… this was something else. This was downright embarrassing! How could those brats possibly be powerful enough, smart enough to defeat them and take their things?

At least they knew about the formation of a team from their mole. The poor hero didn't even know that he was a menace to his supposed friends as he continued to supply them with the information they needed. He had yet to inform them of where this new team was going to be holed up in, but he had at least told them the Robin, Swift, Aqualad, and Superboy were going to be members of this team. Very well then. They could easily deal with this. They simply needed to utilize particular members of the Light and gain the trust of those members. They would tear the team apart person by person and there was a chance that they could make some more clones and create more moles.

The Light would turn this around. Savage had put over four years into this plan and although that wasn't very long to someone like him, it was enough that he would be very frustrated if it did not come to fruition like he would like it to. One thing was certain, in the end, no matter what, the Light would triumph!


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Artemis pops up out of nowhere and annoys Wally.

WWWWWW

This was entirely unfair. He was stuck in school, wasting away, while Dick, Conner, Kaldur, and M'gann were probably having a blast at the beach, swimming around and stuff. Well, he probably wouldn't have gone swimming anyways because he didn't want to show off his scars (mostly from his time with his dad before he had his super healing, but there were some from his times as a superhero); the J carved into his chest came to mind and he rubbed the spot absentmindedly, soon moving to rub over the Flash symbol carved in the center of his chest.

He sighed, only half an ear listening in to what the teacher was saying. How was it fair that seniors had to start a week earlier than juniors? Dick should be here. Every other school in existence started their juniors and seniors at the same time, but apparently Gotham City Academy was too prestigious for that.

Even if he hadn't gone swimming, he still could have had a ton of fun. Wait! Bruce had said that he got him a swimsuit that was a swim shirt and swim shorts, so he could have still gone swimming. Aw man! That so wasn't fair! Well, maybe he could go swimming after he got out of school. He could run to the Mountain fast enough that it would be only seconds after he left school. So, he just had to wait… a certain amount of time and then he would be free and back in the groove with his friends, swimming and having a blast! He tilted his head slightly to the side and tapped the table a couple times. It was the signal he and Sally had figured out back in eighth grade when she had led him around to all his classes. She still helped him out in the beginning of each year until he got the lay of the land so to say. The tapping was supposed to tell Sally (who almost exclusively sat next to him) that he wanted to talk to her.

He felt Sally lean in and whisper, "What do you need, Walls?" Somehow she had gotten hold of the nickname and hadn't stopped using it. It drove Wally crazy and he was pretty sure that all of her friends didn't even know that his name was Wally. Personally, he blamed Roy. Sally always talked about that cute redheaded older brother who came to pick him and Dick up occasionally. Ridiculous.

Wally got back to the point (he had thought all of that so quickly that it was like he didn't even miss a beat in the conversation; convenience of super speed thinking) and whispered back, "What time is it Sally?"

She laughed lightly and he rolled his eyes. He felt the wind as she swept her hair around to look at the clock before he heard her head turn back and she whispered, "It's 8:40 Walls. Only seven hours left until freedom." Wally groaned and smashed his head against his desk. Why? Why must time move so slow? It felt like he had been in here for hours! Curse his super speed! Sally just laughed in the background.

Seven hours, one minute, and twenty seven seconds longer found him in a zeta beam with his swim shirt and shorts on and his black Swift goggles set firmly on his face and some pool paraphernalia in his hands. He stepped into the room and crooned, "The Wallman is here, my beautiful Megalicious! There is no longer a need to fear!" He could hear the transported announcing that he was Kid Flash, B03 in the background, but that wasn't what concerned him.

He could hear way more heartbeats than he was supposed to hear. He recognized the rabbit quick pace of Barry's heartbeat when he was calm. He felt comforted by the soothingly steady beat of his adopted father's heart. He heard the quick stutter of Ollie's heart when he was startled by something and he smirked to himself. He could hear the robotic pumping and whirring that signified that Red Tornado was in the room and he heard Dinah's light heartbeat off to the side. He heard the steady pumping of his teammates' hearts and then he heard another heartbeat that his echo locator told him was standing next to Ollie. All of this was noted and analyzed in the second after he finished his last second. The voice that responded was definitely not Megan, but it was female. Or a castrated male. Wally tuned back into the conversation just in time for the mysterious person to say, "Who're you, Baywatch?"

"I could say the same thing, archer." Wally responded with; he had heard the wind sing across two sets of bow strings and since he didn't smell Roy's particular scent, he had taken a stab in the dark and had apparently guessed correctly. He had a feeling about where this was going and he didn't like it.

His suspicions were confirmed when Batman announced in his gravelly tone, "This is your new teammate, Artemis. She will be joining you on all future missions. She will not be living here in the Mountain and has requested that her secret identity not be announced. You are dismissed." How could they do this? They were going to have an archer! It would have only taken a couple more tries and they definitely would have been able to get Roy to join! Now there was no way he would join them!

A voice came from the direction of the zeta beams, "Not quite dismissed. I'm enlisting the services of the Junior Justice League." Even though he talked over the computer announcement, Wally was still able to make out a voicing introducing the newcomer as Red Arrow, B06 (AN: I don't actually know his number and I'm not entirely certain he has one, so I'm going with B06. Please correct me if you know the actual thing). Apparently Wally was wrong. Maybe Roy really would come and join them! Then his words sunk in and Wally deflated. He wanted them to help him, not join up with them. Well, they would convince him! He would see how awesome they all were together and then he would have to join them! Then he deflated again. That Replacement was still here and that meant that Roy wouldn't join them.

AAAAAA

Artemis had been overjoyed at her chance to join the team. This was her way of sticking it to her dad and making sure that he knew that she wasn't his 'baby girl' anymore; in fact, this was her way of telling him that she was never his 'baby girl'. She was immensely grateful to Green Arrow and Batman for letting her do this. They were her saving grace and although she'd never admit it or show it, she was hugely thankful for them.

Now that her mom was out of jail and she had gotten a scholarship to Gotham Academy, her life seemed to have taken a huge turn for the better. Everything was finally starting to fall into place.

That Swift showed up. He heckled her on missions, always ready to remind her that she was a replacement and that there were better archers already out there. Then there was his constant need to eat everything and flirt with M'gann (who was quickly becoming her first real friend) every. Single. Time. He saw her. It was ridiculous! And the worst part about it was that no one else seemed to have a problem with it. How could they not have a problem with it? That didn't make any sense! Nothing about him made sense!

He tried to act all mysterious like Robin and wouldn't tell anyone his identity. He always acted so confident and… stupid when he was doing everything but training. Even when he was training he acted all macho man, but at least he was less stupid. And him and Robin giggled over things like two year olds and she was certain that she had seen them point at her and whisper before breaking into laughter (or, well, cackling in Robin's case; he really needed to get that checked out because that was a creepy laugh). And then there was the fact that (according to rumors with criminals and heroes across the nation) Swift used to patrol in Gotham but then up and switched to patrolling in Central City one day. Was he too baby to deal with Gotham heroes? Or did he move? What was up with him?

The worst thing, the absolutely most horrible, terrifying, disgusting, evil thing, was that Artemis could not stop thinking about him. It wasn't like she had a crush on him or anything. It definitely wasn't that. She had a crush on one guy who she had originally hated, but it did not go down like this. So what about that kid so captivated her attention? He was even two years younger than her! Who makes superheroes that young? Well, she couldn't really say anything on that one because she had been trained practically from birth to be a master assassin. So… in hindsight, that last point really didn't work out at all.

Artemis was broken from her train of thoughts when she finally reached a building that proclaimed, 'Gotham City Academy'. So this was the super prestigious school she was supposed to attend based on some scholarship from Wayne foundations. She tugged at her skirt and top nervously. She didn't want to look like she was some poor kid (although that was true) who was definitely shady (also true).

Artemis made her way towards the front office of the school, nervously playing with the shoulder strap of her bag. Clearing her throat when the secretary didn't look at her, she said, "Hi, I'm a new student here, Artemis Crock. I was told that I would get a guide who would lead me around my first few days?" Her statement ended up turning into a question and she a little bit hated herself for it.

The secretary perked up and smiled brightly, "Of course, Ms. Crock. I am so sorry! I hadn't even noticed you there! I know, I know. What is a school like this doing with such a ditzy secretary? To be honest, I'm not entirely certain. Oh yeah! You're guide. She was waiting just around the corner. Or not. Where could that girl have gone? What was that girl's name anyways…"

The teenage superhero stood there awkwardly as the secretary puttered about in her spacious office, looking around for a girl that Artemis suspected hadn't even been in the room. The secretary was kind of cute in an old grandmother-y way, though. Just then, the door to the office was yanked quickly open and a girl stumbled inside. She had short dark brown – almost black – hair that only made it down to her cheekbones. Her small brown eyes perfectly accentuated her button nose. She was a little shorter than Artemis. She grinned at the archer and held out her hand in welcome, "Hi! I'm Mia Mizoguchi, but you can call me Maps. That's what everyone calls me. I'm sorry I'm late! My friend Olive was having some issues with her car, but its fine now. Anyways, it's great to meet you! I'll be leading you around school today since I have all of the same classes as you!"

"Uh," Artemis wasn't sure where she was going with this. She did not do talking to other people. She settled on, "Nice to meet you too, er, Maps."

Maps smiled and gave her a look that said that she knew exactly what Artemis's thought process had been. Fantastic. After a few more minutes spent talking with the secretary, Maps and Artemis went back outside. Artemis was introduced to the upperclassmen Olive Silverlock. She was a curious girl with dark skin, white hair, and eyes that were almost red. The three talked with a few other girls for a couple of minutes before Olive suddenly said, "Look! There's Dick Grayson. He's so hot… and toned. And he's a Junior. Being an upperclassman makes you totally hotter."

The other girls giggled and Artemis couldn't help the short laugh that came out. He actually was pretty good looking with his hair slicked back and his uniform fit him perfectly. Suddenly, they made eye contact and Dick turned, whispering something in his friend's ear before walking towards their small group of girls. He looped his arm around Artemis's shoulders and, before she could say anything or react, he took a selfie of the two of them. He promptly slid away out of her personal space before saying, "Don't worry. We'll laugh about this someday." He grinned and walked away.

"Total turn off. I don't like the weird ones." One of the girls commented and they all started giggling again. This school wasn't as preppy and obnoxious as she thought it was going to be, which was a relief.

Just then, a voice spoke from behind the group, "Is Dick being obnoxious again?" Artemis turned to see first a blonde girl with green eyes who waved at them and then she saw the speaker. He was an average height teenager with a lean body shape and incredibly pale skin. He had ridiculously bright red hair and Artemis could see freckled peeking out from under the big black glasses that he wore. At first Artemis thought that he was just trying to look cool, but then she saw the bright red cane in his hand and the way that his face was aimed just a little bit off from where people were standing.

"Aw, Wally, your brother was being really weird! He just came up to Artemis and took a selfie with her before saying something totally cryptic and creepy and then walking off!" Maps pouted at him.

The red head (Wally apparently) smiled and said, "That sounds like him." He frowned slightly, "Actually that sounds more like Tim."

The girls giggled and it finally clicked what Wally had said. She spoke before thinking, "Wait, you're brothers with that kid?"

Wally smiled in her general direction (he should really work on figuring out where things were; it was disconcerting to have a conversation with someone who wasn't looking right at you) and answered, "Sure! Dick's my big brother. We were both adopted by Bruce Wayne quite some time ago. Damian's the only one of us who's actually biologically related to Bruce."

"Come on, Walls! Mrs. Stevenson wanted to talk to us about joining the senior's only Science Olympiad. You know she hates it when people are late!" The blonde (Artemis realized that she didn't even know the girl's name) led Wally away and towards the senior hall.

"Wait," Artemis said, "Wally said that Dick was older than him and Dick is a junior, so how can Wally be a senior?"

"The whole Wayne family is super smart. Dick is only fifteen and already a junior and Wally's only thirteen. It's kind of amazing how, even with his disability, he still perseveres and achieves things that some of us aren't capable of doing. It's beautiful." Maps sniffled. Just then the bell rang and her eyes widened, "Oh no! I was supposed to show you where your locker was before school started! We'd better run!" Artemis laughed, carefree for the first time in a long time. She never would have guessed that she would enjoy herself at this stuck-up place that actually wasn't as stuck-up as she thought it was going to be. She would definitely have a lot to tell her mom when she got home.

BBBBBB

Barbara Gordon was at home with her father when he attacked. Joker, that is. She had been on and off as Batgirl (taking up the name after Cass became Batwoman and moved to Hong Kong) for the last four years. Ever since she met Wally actually. He was always so brave with his blindness and all the teasing and bullying he constantly received that she had been motivated to become a superhero. Dick always theorized that the reason she kept quitting was because she wasn't as motivated as the others. She simply fought crime because of her altruistic behavior whereas Robin and Batman did it to avenge their parents' deaths. Wally did it because he didn't want anyone to have to go through the sort of things he went through. Damian and Jason and Tim and Cass and Colin and Steph all had their own reasons too (Barbara had been ecstatic when she found out the alter egos of her heroes and realized that they were her best friend and his family), but they were all motivated. If they ever stopped fighting crime, it was because something put them out of commission and it was always intended to be a momentary thing. When she quit, she always had the intention to never return to fighting crime. It was a constant source of arguments between her and Dick, but they didn't let it affect their friendship as much as it could.

The teenage superhero was currently in one of her 'off' stages. She had been retired for about a month now and it was great. But then he showed up. Batgirl had faced off against tons of Gotham's worst over the years, but none scared her as much as the Joker. He was too insane to not be afraid of him. He came into the house and his thugs followed him in. She could hear her father shouting at them to get out and she heard shots sound. She raced down the stairs and into the kitchen where she saw her father valiantly trying to fight them all off, but it was too much. And then, suddenly, there was the sound of a gun firing from behind her and then she felt something smash into her back. Her mind not so helpfully informed her that it was just about the right spot to hit her spinal cord. She fell to the ground, pain rushing up to meet her, and fell unconscious to the sounds of her father's screams.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So… I'm super sorry that I did this to Babs, but I definitely like her better as Oracle and I feel like, as a character, she can't be Oracle until she's become a paraplegic. I just don't see it any other way. Also, the characters I mentioned (Mia "Maps" Mizoguchi and Olive Silverlock) are from the Gotham Academy comic series and I just didn't feel like creating my own characters, so I used them. They shouldn't hold much value in the story.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wally faces off the Joker.

DDDDDD

It had been a little over six months since the Team had been formed. Dick had noticed a general improvement in Wally's attitude, which was saying something. He was normally more serious at home than he was at school or as Swift, but he still had a lot of goofball moments, but now, it was like all the seriousness was gone. He was obviously still mature (especially for a thirteen year old), but he normally masked it with his jokes and silly mistakes.

Dick felt that the change was due entirely to the Team. Aside from Artemis (the two had formed a tentative friendship that only went so far as to say that when they insulted each other, it wasn't meant to be malicious, just annoying), Wally loved all of his new teammates and had easily fallen into patterns with them. Wally and Megan would bake together, Wally grabbing the things the Martian needed and making side comments that would inevitably make her cooking taste amazing (Alfred had insisted that all of them learned how to cook and Wally seemed especially adept at it, especially for a blind person). Conner and Wally would sit on the couch together, Conner watching his favorite channel (static… Dick wasn't entirely certain what was up with that so he just pushed it to the back of his mind) and Wally did his homework or played games on his laptop or cleaned his weapons or generally just did something that was quiet. Kaldur and Wally would sit in the training room and mediate. Well, Kaldur would mediate while Swift talked at him about anything and everything. Apparently Kaldur liked it because it helped him practice becoming calm while things are happening; Dick just thought it was weird. Overall, though, it was like Wally was forming another family and Dick couldn't be happier for him. All he needed to do now was get Wally and Artemis to be real friends and not kind of friends that generally avoid each other as a rule. They seemed a little closer after the last mission (the one to Bialya that had ended up with them losing the last six months of their lives) although Dick didn't know why. According to M'gann, they had been protecting each other and were sticking close up until the point where their memories came back.

Dick was distracted from his thoughts when his phone started repeating, "You have received a call, Master. You have received a call, Master." Robin sent Swift a baleful glare, the other members of the team giving him amused glances from their various spots in the kitchen, before answering it.

Before he could get a word in edge wise, a voice called out from the other end, "Why didn't you call me the instant you got back from India? I told you to call me the instant you got back from India! Next time, I'm not telling Batman that there's suspicious reports of armed animals in any countries so he won't send you and then I won't have to worry and worry and continue to worry when you don't call to tell me you're alright'!"

Robin blinked and Swift called from the other side of the room, "Nice to see you too, Oracle! I'm okay, not that it matters apparently. I'm glad I'm alive, but apparently I don't have to call you and let you know. No problem!"

Before someone else could say anything (liking inciting an argument between Oracle and Swift that would be carried out over Robin's poor phone), Robin said, "Sorry Oracle! I completely forgot to call you. It's not like I've gotten used to it yet. It's only been, like, five months since you officially became Oracle!"

Barbara sniffed and Dick could just imagine her raising her nose in the air and then she started talking, "That's no excuse! And I don't have you call me, Swift, because I know that you won't tell the truth. I'll be like, are you okay and you'll be like, yeah, no problem. I fought Cold and it went pretty awesome, nothing really happened. Then we'll hang out and you'll have a ton of bruises and long cuts all down your sides and broken fingers. That's not okay. Dick will at least tell me when he's hurt or when you're hurt even if he doesn't say how bad the injuries are."

"That was one time!" Wally defended, "And besides, it normally heals fast enough that it really is no big deal. We just ended up seeing you sooner than we were supposed to, so I wasn't already healed up." Robin sighed, so much for keeping them from arguing.

Robin interrupted Babs midsentence (something he was sure he was going to regret later) and said, "So, does this count as calling? Because if it does, then consider your call quota complete. There you go. I will talk to you later. See you Oracle!" He waited for her to harrumph and disconnect the call before hanging up himself because it was never a good thing to hang up on Babs, especially after you had just interrupted her.

"So…" Artemis drawled, "That your girlfriend?"

Robin didn't get a chance to respond before Batman's voice called them all into the main room of the Mountain. They all shuffled in (except for Swift who had run ahead of them into the room) and waited expectantly at attention. Batman starts talking as soon as everyone is in the room, "There are numerous cases of giant plant attacks across the globe happening at the same time. The plants are treated with Kobra Venom and are incredibly dangerous. I-,"

Batman was cut off as the screens displaying various giant plant attacks (why is this his life) fizzled out and a new image came onto the screen. Joker's voice ran in the background, announcing cheerfully that, "This is the Injustice League. We are the cause of those pesky little plants all over the world. And we won't stop them until you give us what we want. And we want ten billion dollars, of course!" He broke off to give a laugh that chilled Robin's body to the core before saying, "Remember, we want ten billion dollars! Tata!" The others, who were apparently a part of the Injustice League, grinned at the camera and Robin mentally identified them. Count Vertigo was standing in front, with Poison Ivy off to the side with Black Adam standing just behind the two of them. Atomic Skull and Wotan stood on Vertigo's other side with Ultra-Humanite behind them. Then, of course, there was Joker doing the voice over. It was, all in all, a rather impressive grouping of villains. This was a real threat.

Robin looked at his adopted father's face and saw that he had his 'I don't like the idea I'm having, but I'll do it anyways for the sake of humanity' scowl on and he grimaced inwardly. That was never a good scowl. Then Batman said, "I am assigning the Team to take down the Injustice League. Zatara will locate the villains and you will deploy to the site immediately. Swift will be joining Flash in Taipei to deal with the giant plant there."

Wally's head whipped towards their father and he protested immediately, "I should go with the Team! There's no reason for me to not go with them!"

Batman gave Wally his 'this is what is best for you even if you don't see it right now' scowl and said, "Do you remember what happened last time you were up against the Joker? Do you want a repeat of that?"

Wally paled considerably and Robin noticed the other members of the Team looking at each other in confusion, obviously wondering what happened, but Wally forged on, "I don't have to fight against the Joker. There are plenty of other villains that need some butt kicking and we need all the members we can get! You can't tell me that the Team wouldn't benefit from a full roster!"

Robin inwardly winced. Secretly, he was hoping that Batman would win this argument because he remembered when they found Wally and he never wanted to go through that again, but he knew that Wally would win now. He made the point that they needed all hands on deck to deal with this and that the rest of the Team might be at a disadvantage if Swift weren't there and Batman wanted all of them to be safe. He would capitulate this argument to save the rest of the Team. At least, Robin mused to himself, Wally would be getting an earful about this when they got home. And, if Bruce was feeling particularly vindictive at the time, he would be getting an earful about it when their siblings were in earshot. That would turn into a warzone pretty quickly and Dick resolved to get some popcorn ready so he could watch.

There was a tense pause where everyone stared between the two, unsure as to who would win (except for Robin of course) before Batman said, "Fine. Zatara, locate the Injustice League."

About five minutes later, the Team was in the Bioship heading towards the Louisiana Bayou. It had been silence the entire time they had been on the ship, but Artemis was the one who broke it, "So, Food for Brains, what's up with you and the Joker?"

Robin noticed Wally stiffen before the youngest member of the team responded, "It doesn't matter."

Artemis frowned and pressed, "I heard that you used to work with all the Bats in Gotham. Is the Joker why you left to go to Central City?" There was a pause and Dick swore under his breath in Romani; she was getting way too close to the truth. After not receiving an answer, Artemis continued with a smirk, "Were you too baby to stay in Gotham and had to go to nice, sweet Central City where the villains have morals and poor itty bitty Swift wouldn't get hurt?"

Still facing the front of the Bioship so none of them could see his face, Wally growled, "Drop it, Artemis. Now." The Team was looking between the two of them now, concern written across their faces and Artemis faltered. Likely, she hadn't heard the generally happy speedster so serious and upset before and she thought it was unsettling. Even Dick was a little unsettled even though Wally acted like this every time someone brought up his time in the Joker's captivity. Wally hadn't told them what all the insane villain had done to him during that time, but they could surmise a good part of it. No one was quite sure why the man hadn't just killed Wally, or even taken off his mask, but they were all immensely grateful for it.

Artemis ended up dropping it, a look that was almost concern crossing her features for a moment. They were all worried because Wally didn't act like this. Wally was the light of the team and the glue that bound them together. Dick secretly thought that that was the speedsters' real superpower. They were somehow able to make the most unlikely partners work together and even though they annoying the living daylights out of people, they had the largest, most caring hearts and they were the ones most likely to run headlong into danger or to sacrifice themselves, always quoting their speedy recovery time.

A few minutes later, they were over the Bayou Bartholomew in Louisiana. They hovered there, invisible for a moment until Miss Martian cried out, one hand on the glowing orb that ran the ship and the other hand pressed to her temple. She called out telepathically, Something is trying to break down my invisibility. I won't be able to hold it for long!

Vertigo, Swift responded and Robin nodded to the statement. Suddenly Miss Martian cried out again and Robin could practically feel the shield slipping. Then there was a huge bang and Black Adam was ripping a hole in the Bioship's floor. Superboy punched him and he fell out of the ship. Miss M then tried to control the descent of the ship, ending with it crashing into the swamp. Robin watched as vines wrapped around the exterior of the ship and held it in place under the water level. Miss Martian nodded to them and the rest of the Team got ready. On her signal, a latch opened on the ship and water came rushing in. The Team swam to the shore as fast as they could.

There, on the shore, Count Vertigo and Black Adam wait for them, watching them as they crept out of the water. Aqualad orders through the mind link, Robin and Swift. I want the two of you to disable the device that is controlling the plants. The rest of us will hold the plants off. Be careful.

Gotcha, O Great Leader, Swift responds, giving him a quick salute and speeding over to grab Robin before running over the water with Robin held bridal style. Dick continued to grumble to himself about how much he hated it when people carried him this way and how everyone continued to do so despite his protests. Honestly. Wally was younger than him! This wasn't even fair!

His inner monologue was cut short by Swift skidding to a stop in front of the building and commenting lowly, "So, if it's only Vertigo and Adam outside, then that means that Ultra-Humanite, Poison Ivy, Atomic Skull, Wotan, and Joker should be inside. You know, saying it that way makes me think that our groups weren't quite split up evenly. There are four of them facing two villains and two of us facing five villains. I'm not sure where the tactical advantage in that plan came from."

Robin whispered back, "We're the tactical advantage, dude. We're just that awesome that we only need two of us."

"Dude, Bats would make you clean the Batmobile for months if he heard you getting that cocky." Wally whispered back, a smile bending his lips. Together, they crept into the building just in time for the Joker to send Wotan outside to assist the others. Robin felt a shudder run through Wally at the sight of one of Gotham's worst villains and grimaced to himself. This was the first time Wally had seen the Joker since the day he was rescued over two years ago. Between Flash and the Bat Clan (the only people who knew about Wally's fateful encounter with Joker), Wally was always far away when the Joker was out and about.

Ignoring the brief flash of fear that overtook his brother's face, Robin stared down into the room. Ivy was lounging lovingly on the root of the plant, seeming to push power into it, crooning to it in that soft voice that she only ever used for plants. Joker was at the controls, apparently releasing Joker Venom from spores in the plants that were spread around the city. Atomic Skull and Ultra-Humanite were boosting the power of the plant, focusing intently on their job.

Robin heard the shouts and bangs that were coming from outside taper off until there wasn't any sound left and he winced in sympathy for his friends. Unfortunately, this wasn't the time to worry about what they were going through. He and Wally needed to get this main plant destroyed. Robin turned and whispered his plan in Wally's ear and the younger hero nodded before going through the first motion of the plan.

He grabbed Robin (bridal style, again) and carried him over to the base of the plant, setting him down so fast that no one was likely to realize that he had even stopped. He continued rushing around and managed to punch Atomic Skull and Ultra-Humanite, but was inevitable grabbed by one of Poison Ivy's plants. Joker didn't even turn around to face the commotion. By the time Wally was ensnared in one of Ivy's vines, Robin had planted explosives all around the base of the plant. He threw a batarang at the vine that was attempting to crush Wally and Swift fell to the floor, rolling into a standing position. He stopped for a second (probably less than a second and Robin was only able to tell that he stopped from many years of living with him) and then ran towards Robin, scooping him up again and running out of the building the same way they came in.

They got out of the building and skidded to a stop in exactly the wrong spot. They stopped and suddenly the Bioship was leering above them, knocking into Wotan who lost his control over a golden magical cage that promptly dropped the rest of the Team on top of the two brothers. They all grunted as they landed on the ground, exhausted. Robin finally got the chance to press the detonator and he did, with relish. The other villains had made it out of the destroyed building and were glaring at the gathered group as the teens attempted to untangle themselves from each other.

Soon, they all stood and fanned out in a line, chests out and standing proud, facing down the villains. They had just destroyed their plans and likely destroyed the rest of the plants. That meant that the Justice League would be converging down on these villains within minutes. Just then, Joker finally caught sight of Wally and he grinned, throwing his arms out and laughing, "Joker Junior! You came back! Those mean old Bats took you away and then you ended up in Central. How boring is Central? Come back to Gotham and I'll make you the perfect little Joker Junior!"

"Stop calling me that!" Swift growled, practically vibrating with a mixture of adrenaline, fear, and anger.

Joker pouted at him, but was interrupted by Poison Ivy commenting, "I heard rumor that you left Gotham because of Joker, but I didn't think it was true. You really should come back. We've missed you. Especially Catwoman. You know how much she likes to play with birds." Swift give his best imitation of a Batman Scowl and pretty much succeeded. Ivy stepped down immediately and didn't make another comment. Joker, however, couldn't care less when he was on the receiving end of a scowl like that. His insanity made it hard for him to care about anything.

Count Vertigo frowned at the Joker before saying, "Enough talking. Defeat this team of children." Battle ensued.

It didn't take long for Miss Martian to get Ivy wrapped up in her own vines long enough to telekinetically move an object to hit Poison Ivy over the head, knocking her unconscious. Superboy fought against Black Adam and ended up knocking him unconscious with a final blow to the head. Artemis shot two arrows at once that enveloped Atomic Skull and Ultra-Humanite in polyurethane foam that hardened around them and, before they could break free, she shot a blunt arrow at each, knocking them out cold. Aqualad was locked in battle with Wotan, soon being joined by Artemis. They attacked with their arrows and water bearers, but were mostly forced to be on the defensive. Robin was dodging attacks from the Joker as Swift tried to keep Count Vertigo's attention focused on him. Robin turned away for a second, focusing back in on the fight he was currently in before he heard a shout of pain from behind him.

Without a second thought, he did a few back flips to allow him time to look behind him and he saw Wally on the ground, clutching an arm that looked broken. It was as if Count Vertigo's attack had sent him flying back into a tree. It was, surprisingly, Artemis who came to Wally's aid, helping him up and helping him take down Vertigo while Superboy joined Aqualad in fighting Wotan.

Eventually, the only villain that was left standing was Wotan. Well, floating would be a more accurate description. The Team could barely dodge the strikes that he was shooting at them, let alone land a hit. Aqualad commanded over the mind link, Miss M, please give me Plan B.

The Bioship shimmered into life above them and a duffel bag fell out from the ship. Aqualad caught it and pulled out the Helmet of Fate. Instantly, Aqualad transformed, becoming Doctor Fate. Robin and the others just watched in awe as Doctor Fate fought off Wotan, defeating him as no one else could. Robin noticed that Wally was frozen behind him, staring at the scene in… horror almost.

Then the Justice League showed up and properly apprehended the criminals, leading them away to prison. As Batman was moving to cuff the Joker, the villain pressed a button and deadly Joker gas filled the air. Robin immediately whipped out his breathing device and turned to make sure Wally had done the same. He had pulled it out, but had apparently decided to give it to Artemis. What was he thinking? Sure, she didn't have one and sure, it was the heroic thing to do, especially after she just saved him, but still! It all ended up not mattering, though, because Doctor Fate dispelled the foul gas before anyone could breathe it in. Batman knocked the Joker unconscious again and cuffed him.

Doctor Fate floated back to the ground and took the Helmet off, transforming back into Kaldur. Robin felt Wally stiffen with surprise next to him, still cradling his broken arm. He zipped over to Kaldur and said something. Robin only heard, "How… let you… why?"

The only parts he was able to garner from Kaldur's response were, "…Nelson… let me go… don't… Fate… next person won't… lucky." Robin wasn't entirely certain what that conversation was about, but he figured that it had something to do with the time when Wally had worn the Helmet of Fate and had been shaken up for days afterwards. Either way, everyone ended up getting out with minimal injuries except for Wally with his broken arm. Everything would work out fine.


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Villains are being creepy again and for some reason, everyone's focussing in on Wally.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh yeah, in this chapter (probably) and future chapters (again, probably) there will probably be some torture just because people seem to want to know what happened when Wally was kidnapped.

VVVVVV

The Light turned to look at Vandal Savage and he grinned back at them, "I've received new information from our mole and it seems very useful. Apparently the speedster, Swift, is the key to the team. According to our source, the speedster in the Justice League and the one in the Young Justice League and even the old one who was a part of the Justice Society of America are glue needed to hold the teams together. They provide comic relief and a warm, trusting attitude that the other heroes need to keep themselves going." Vandal sneered to himself at the thought of it. How those things were appealing was beyond him, but he wasn't going to question something that turned out to be such an asset to them.

Lex Luthor commented idly from his seat, seemingly bored, "What of Swift? Do you propose that we kill him?"

"No," Savage leaned forward in his seat and met the eyes of his current associates, "I propose that we break him." There was a pause as the idea sunk in and then the villains surrounding the room started to grin. He leaned back with a smug smirk and announced, "Today we will begin our plan to break Swift. Today is the opening date of Operation: Breaking Speed."

RRRRRR

Rudolph was sick of this. He was sick of this place and this food and his rotten jail cell and he wanted out. He never got any visitors, but he got letters from Mary weekly. From her mindless ranting, it was obvious that his conditioning had worked. It was still a chore to have to respond to her so she stayed his little pawn, but it would be worth it in the end. She had told him about how she would do anything he asked in regards to their son. Rudy had been as furious – no, more so – than Mary had been when he saw that Thing on the news being adopted by a billionaire. That Thing was the cause of all of their troubles and he hated It more than he had hated anything in his life. The Thing began to fill all his waking thoughts, and, after three years in prison, the Thing invaded his sleeping thoughts as well. Now, after he had been rotting away for six and a half years, the only activity that he seemed capable of doing was thinking about that Thing.

Wallace Rudolph West. The Thing. A freak. A monster a menace demon evilkillmustkilltheThingmustdieItwasevilItmustdiehemustfinishhismissionandkilltheThing.

Rudy was brought out of his thoughts (what little were left of them) by the prison guard announcing that there was a visitor here to see him. He tilted his head to the side, not quite comprehending. A visitor didn't have anything to do with the Thing. Or, was the Thing the visitor? Did he finally get his chance to kill It? The guard pulled the man up and chained him before dragging him towards the visiting room.

He was sat on one side of a glass partition and a phone was shoved into his hands. On the other side sat none other than Lex Luthor, famous businessman of Metropolis. Rudy gave no sign of recognizing him. He saw Luthor curl his lip and gingerly grab the phone on his side of the partition, asking coolly, "Rudolph West? Father of Wallace Rudolph West?"

This man knew about the Thing. Did he want to kill the Thing too? Rudolph answered, "Yes." His voice was rough and broken from years of disuse.

Luthor's lip curled again and his nose scrunched up as his he were encountering something distasteful. Rudy assumed that he was thinking about that Thing. Luthor continued, "I have a business venture to explore with you. As of right now, the guards are all paid off and the cameras are not recording, so we can talk freely. I want to give you superpowers. There is something specific that I want you to do with those superpowers and after you do what I want you to do, you can go free and do whatever you want. What do you say about that?"

"Will I get to kill the Thing?" Rudy had to try a couple of times to get the whole sentence out without croaking like a frog.

A smooth eyebrow rose and Luthor asked, "What, precisely, is the Thing?"

"My son. The Thing. The monster. Will I get to kill It?" Rudy licked his lips in anticipation. With superpowers, he could do whatever he wanted. He could easily defeat the Thing. Any superpower was better than super speed and he'd be able to finally kill the Thing and rest easily for the first time in years.

This time, both eyebrows were raised and Luthor's voice held a note of impressed surprise, "You want to kill your son that badly? Well, luckily for you, that's the mission I wanted you to undertake. I want to give you superpowers for the sole purpose of killing your son."

Rudy smiled. For the first time in years, he smiled. He was going to kill It. He would be heralded as a hero and he would be known by generations to come as the one who killed the Thing, the most evil monster to walk the Earth at that time. Rudy leaned close to the glass partition, his nose bumping against it and he croaked, "I'll do it. I'll do anything to kill the Thing. I'll do it." Luthor nodded and the guard dragged him back to his cell. He laughed and laughed and laughed and kept calling out, "I'll do it. I'll do it. I'll do it," until his throat died out and he was only mouthing the words.

CCCCCC

Cheshire was not amused. Why was she of all people being sent to some filthy little prison in the middle of nowhere in America? She was supposed to contact some woman named Mary West and give her a message. This was entirely pointless in her opinion and definitely below her pay grade, especially when they asked her to do it dressed as some normal woman and not in her Cheshire suit. She growled to herself and picked up the phone on her side of the glass partition and glared at the empty seat in front of her, tapping her nails on the table in irritation.

Finally, a woman sat across the table from her. She had incredibly dull red hair, almost to the point that one would classify it as brown, and her eyes were a boring shade of green that practically repelled one's attention. She was gaunt and mouse-like with an anxious air about her that wouldn't have been amiss on a rat. Fantastic. Cheshire waited for the woman to pick up the phone before announcing quickly, "I have a message from your husband. You are about to get powerful lawyers that will get you out of jail quickly even against Bruce Wayne's lawyers. You are not to contact your husband. You will start fighting for custody over Wallace Rudolph West-Wayne. You will make it public and obvious and make sure that Wallace knows that you are attempting to get custody of him. Keep doing that until you get custody, or until you are told to do otherwise. Do you understand?"

The woman nodded, practically cradling her phone and asked zealously, "Have you seen my husband? Is he alright? He is, isn't he? Oh, I'm so glad he entrusted me with this task. Doesn't my husband love me so much? I try so very hard to be the perfect wife and he's rewarding me for my efforts. Isn't he just the best husband there is?" Cheshire ignored her and put the phone down, signaling for the guard to take the woman away. Once Mary lost Cheshire's attention, she immediately moved onto gushing about her husband to the guard. From the look on the guard's face, Mary did this a lot.

Cheshire actually felt bad for this kid. This woman made Sportsmaster look like a good parent. She was sure she even heard that Mary had been an accessory to attempted murder of her son and she had been neglecting him or something. This kid had a lot coming at him and it had to suck to be him.

JJJJJJ

Jason was assigned to look after Wally while the others went to a preliminary trial. Wally's mom was looking for custody back of the kid and there was no way that was going to happen. They had Bruce Wayne going against them and Oliver Queen said that he'd throw his name around a little bit to sway the judge even more. So, he wasn't worried about that (not that he was ever worried about anything because he wasn't). He was… mildly concerned about Wally. When Bruce heard about the impending custody battle, he had told Wally immediately, feeling that it was only fair that he knew. Wally had paled dramatically, his breath coming in short little gasps as he backed up, away from all of them. Bruce had watched with a crestfallen expression as Wally ran out of the house, presumably to that tree that was his true safe haven in this world. Dick had followed immediately afterwards, Damian going behind a little slower. None of them came back that night.

It was midmorning the following day when the three of them finally returned. Grayson hadn't been able to convince Wally to come down, which was a first, so the two youngest ended up falling asleep leaning against each other on the tree branch. Damian had fallen asleep against the base of the trunk, waiting.

Wally had apologized for running off, like he always did, but everyone still fussed over him. This was a problem that couldn't just be talked out and his mother wasn't going to go away easily. She seemed very prepared to win this case.

That was why the entire family (other than Jason because someone needed to make sure Wally didn't go off and do something stupid) was at the courthouse and Jason and Wally were watching TV. Well, Jason was watching TV and Wally was listening while Jason gave random comments about what Wally couldn't see.

They were on the news channel and had been for about thirty minutes when the breaking news headline flashed across the screen. Jason sat up and told Wally why they stopped talking about the weather. The two listened intently at the news caster said, "We have breaking news. There are reports of a mass breakout in the Blue Valley Male Prison. From what we can see from the scene, something broke the wall of the lunch room down and let the prisoners escape. Police reports are saying that there were one or more perpetrators shooting at them while the prisoners ran. We do not yet know who all escaped. The only ones confirmed missing are: George Adams, Finnegan Brickley, Sebastian Smith, Jim Torrez, and Rudolph West. There is an estimate of over fifty other inmates missing."

Jason missed the rest of what the news lady was saying. Blood was rushing through his ears and he felt like he couldn't breathe. Rudolph West. Blue Valley Male Prison. Wally's dad had escaped prison. The adopted Wayne felt a smaller hand latch onto his and tighten to an almost painful grip. He didn't mind. His poor younger brother had to deal with his mother trying to get back custody of him and he had to deal with his father escaping prison and, no doubt, looking for him.

Todd pulled Wally into his lap and rested his chin on the boy's unruly red locks. He started whispering reassurances into his brother's hair as his brother buried his face into Jason's shoulder and sobbed. They hadn't done this for quite some time and, as far as Jason knew, no one else had realized that Wally came to him for comfort, but Jason was willing to be there for Wally, no matter what. Well, he might have to have an exception for doing all this mushy stuff in front of the rest of the family. That might not be okay.

BBBBBB

The Brain weaved between machines before stopping at the one that Luthor was stood in front of. He asked, "Do you like what you see, Mr. Luthor?"

"I must say that I am impressed with your work. What genetic changes could you have done to get him like this?" Luthor responded.

The Brain gazed at his newest creation and answered flippantly, "We have blood from most of the Justice League members because of the mole's work at collecting it after battles. I mixed in small aliquots of some of the most human DNA from the heroes and then put them into Mr. West here. It took a few tries and he almost died the first couple of trials, but I managed to secure the perfect amount of each sample to merge with his DNA and create this."

The two stared at the distorted version of Rudolph West. It had been three weeks since he had been broken out of prison and he had transformed almost completely. His muscles were bulging under the shirt he wore, practically ripping through the sleeves they had wrestled onto him. His skin had been shaded to a dark gray color interspersed with rotting wounds that seemed to be continuously healing themselves and then rotting again. His fingernails had ripped out of his flesh and were grown to sickly lengths, becoming claw-like and monstrous. According to the chart next to him, he had minor telekinesis, super strength, and mild magical abilities. He certainly wasn't the most powerful thing they had created, but he was hideous enough and just strong enough to serve their purposes. Soon, it would be time to unleash Rudolph West into the world.

WWWWWW

No one could find his biological father. It scared him to know that, but he was comforted by the fact that he lived with six other superheroes and Agent A. When he was at the Mountain, he had Red Tornado and Captain Marvel and Black Canary and the Team there with him. When he was at school, Dick was there and so was Babs and Artemis (even though Artemis still didn't know about any of the others). So, he felt safe, but that didn't mean that he wasn't still scared. Oh well, he should stop stressing about it and go to bed already. He effortlessly made his way to his giant bed (after over four years of finding things in his room, he had it completely memorized) and crawled into it, gently putting his glasses on the nightstand next to him. He yawned and finally fell into the comforting embrace of blessed sleep. It was only instants later that the nightmare started up.

Swift swept through the broken down warehouse, trying to avoid the pieces of debris his echo locator was telling him was falling around him. He could hear them whooshing around him, displacing the air around him as he ran. He did a baseball slide under the broken garage door of the warehouse and then stood up and continued running. Apparently some of Joker's current goons were running around and he and Robin were supposed to take them down while Batman and Nightwing took down Joker. It was a pretty good plan, but even good plans had to take a turn for the worse.

This particular turn for the worse came in the form of Wally hearing echoes bouncing off of distinctly human shapes in front of him, their heartbeats thundering to life. He assumed a fighting stance, taking his dragon cane from its holster and holding it properly. That's when one of them spoke, "This is exactly the one I've been waiting for! How do you do, Joker Junior? This is good old pops coming to take you home!"

Wally reached up to his comms to call for backup, but he heard something whistle through the air and dodged quickly to avoid it. Unfortunately, Joker had planned ahead and used something with a strong magnet. Once it got close enough to his head, it flew over to his earpiece and latched on before frying all of the electrically run objects on his person. Great. There went his echo locator. He scowled and stepped back lightly, "Did you just call me Joker Junior? Yeah, I think that's actually a friend of mine. People get us mixed up all the time. I'm Swift though, nice to meet you. Hey, I've actually gotta run, so I'll see you later!" He swept around and ran out of the alley as fast as he could without his echo locator, which actually wasn't that fast. His device was made specially to keep up with how fast he was running so he got the echoes back before he ran into the thing. Making clicking sounds with his tongue just didn't cut it.

He could still at least run a little faster than the average man because they had prepared for this continuity, like they prepared for every continuity. He continued to run and run and he heard their heartbeats fade away. Wally finally lost Joker and the goon! That was when he ran head first into a net of some sort. He hadn't heard the wind whistling through it (although there wasn't much wind to begin with), so it had to be something that wasn't very soft and had large openings. He thought that he could easily work with something like that, but suddenly needles stabbed out from it. Every point of contact the net type thing made with his body had a needle loaded with tranquilizers. His last thoughts before he passed out were that he should have known that this was there; he should have done a better job of listening. Now he was going to stress his family and that was the last thing he wanted.

Wally woke with a start, shivering. For a second, he heard another heartbeat in his room, one that almost sounded like… Psimon's heartbeat? He listened intently for a few minutes more before shaking his head and dismissing it. He was probably just on edge from the nightmare. It was fine.

VVVVVV

Vandal Savage grinned at his fellow members of the Light. He set down the reports he had been reading of each member's attributions to Operation: Breaking Speed. He said, "Now, we wait."


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Conner and Wally are fluffy friends.

WWWWWW

When Wally woke up, his head was spinning. The room he was in held an overwhelming scent of mold and decay. He could feel the moisture in the air teasing at his face, ignoring his bone dry mouth and sinking into his suit, collecting there. Gloved fingers racing across the ground determined that it was definitely concrete, but also telling him that his hands were chained to the wall. There was a good bit of leeway, but not enough to stand from his current position of leaning against the wall. Slight shifting of his legs revealed heavy circlets surrounding his ankles and the tinkling of chains being disturbed. So apparently he was chained at the wrists and ankles to the wall. Okay, that was fine. He could deal with that. Wally pushed a button on the finger of one of his gloves and lock picking materials popped out the top of it. Joker hadn't taken away his supplies and he hadn't taken Swift's mask off either. It was weird, but Wally wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

A few seconds later, Wally felt the chain around his right wrist pop off and he grinned in relief. He would be out of here in no time, making sure to memorize the path he took so he could lead Batman and the others back and they could kick Joker's butt! It would take him longer than usual to get home without his echo locator functioning properly, but he could deal. He was awesome like that.

Just then, the sound of a heartbeat (Swift realized that it was the Joker's heartbeat) merged with footsteps coming closer to the hideout. Swift froze and made sure the chain looked like it was still attached to his wrist. Better to make sure that Joker doesn't think that Wally has an advantage. Apparently his planning didn't matter because when Joker walked over to him, he kicked Wally in the stomach, causing the young boy to double over reflexively. The hand cuff clattered to the ground, giving away the fact that he had been trying (and succeeding) to escape. Joker clicked his tongue and Wally could hear the displacement of air as Joker waggled his finger in a reprimanding manner before the insane villain scolded, "Now, now, we can't have little Joker Junior trying to get away from us, can we? I know I haven't broken my little runner yet, but surely you don't want to leave good ole pops, do you?"

Wally retorted as scathingly as he could, "I'm not your little runner or your little Joker Junior! And you're not my 'pops'! Let me go right now Joker! You know that any minute Batman and the others are going to come in here and take you out, right? I don't belong to anybody and most certainly not you!"

Joker sighed in disappointment, clicking his tongue again as he swirled something through the air. Whatever it was he had been swinging, he rested it against the wall with a metallic thump. He crouched down and started refastening Wally's chain. Swift took the opportunity to head butt the man, bringing his head down as hard as he could in the direction he assumed Joker's presumably ugly mug was. His head made contact and Joker stumbled back, hissing and landing on his rear. Wally grinned and spit at him. Uncle Barry always said that if push came to shove, just head butt someone and they'll generally leave you alone. Of course, there are some people who head butting wouldn't be the best idea (cough Superman cough), but it was helpful in this situation.

Or not. Joker stood up and grabbed that metallic thing that he had been swirling before bringing it swinging down on Wally's hand. Apparently Swift had only made the villain angry. Then the impact was made and Wally barely kept in the scream. He heard bones creak and shift and crunch beneath what he now knew to be a crowbar. He felt his fingers splay out in angles that shouldn't be possible to achieve before Joker brought the crowbar down again, making sure that Wally wouldn't be able to pick the lock with that hand. Swift winced, swallowing another scream as he heard Joker walking around to his other side. It only took a second to realize what Joker was going to do. Wally forced a laugh and said, "Hey, surely we can talk about this. I mean, wasn't smashing the fingers on one hand enough? You shouldn't have the do the other hand too, right? Am I right, or am I right?"

Joker laughed manically, "You are mine, boy and I'll make sure that you know it. You can't escape me, ever!" And with that ominous statement, Joker brought the crowbar swinging down on his other hand, smashing it into his fingers several times, ignoring the barely muffled sobs coming from the young superhero. Swift's fingers definitely weren't supposed to be twisted this way. They were supposed to make those crunching sounds either. And they definitely weren't supposed to hurt this badly.

The Joker leaned down and whispered in Wally's ear, "I'll keep you here forever Joker Junior. No one is coming to rescue you. You'll see. You'll become mine soon enough."

Wally swung up in bed with a shiver wracking his body. He breathed heavily for a few moments, holding his head in his hands as he tried to get his heart rate under control. It had been weeks since he started getting nightmares like this. He had always had nightmares at least once a week (everyone in the Bat Clan did; Wally couldn't count the amount of times the household had been woken up by one of the Wayne children screaming), but some would be mild and some would be awful. Now, it was every night that he would get nightmares that would leave him a shaking, jumpy mess for hours. They had started getting really bad a week or so after his biological father disappeared from jail. Now, almost six weeks after he escaped, they still couldn't find him.

Swift sighed and planted his glasses on his face, rubbing the back of his neck with one arm as he stood up and stretched. He obviously wasn't going to be falling asleep anytime soon. It was starting to become a problem actually. He was having a harder time concentrating while crime fighting which was a serious problem for him because he had to concentrate completely while he fought. He had to make sure all of his senses were focused on his intended goal and now he was close to falling asleep every time he went out to patrol! Even the Rogues had noticed and had started going easier on him. There had actually been a huge decrease in Rogue-related crime since they saw him stumble and run into a couple of things while fighting him the other day. The scolding he had gotten (from his villains mind you) had been completely embarrassing, but that's what happened when your villains were as close as uncles to you.

Wally sighed again and decided he might as well get a snack while he was up. There was no use wasting this time as long as he couldn't fall back asleep.

CCCCCC

Conner was watching the television. He liked the static channel. No one else understood why, except for maybe Swift. He smiled at him whenever the static channel was on and it made Conner feel like the speedster understood that the static helped him block out all the other noises that were too much too loud all the time. It was nice to be understood like that. Swift got that Conner liked being alone because it was quiet and whenever there were others around, there was too much noise.

Speaking of noise, Conner heard a heartbeat approaching from the living quarters. The rapid beats per minute clued Conner into the fact that it was Swift who was coming towards the living room, or, more likely, the kitchen. Most of the team had slept at the Mountain that night because their mission had run long and it was around midnight before they even made it back to the base.

Superboy had woken up earlier to the sound of thunder coming from outside. He had decided to watch his favorite channel on the television instead of listening to the loud patter of rain drops and the vicious roaring of the thunder. He could still hear those things, but the static gave him something… numbing to focus on.

Swift turned the corner and commented lightly, "Hey Conner. Whatcha doing up so early?" He yawned and stretched, his back popping before disappearing into the kitchen and grabbing a snack. He finally made his way back into the living room with a bowl of apples and pretzels and a container of peanut butter. That was a strange mixture, but ever since meeting the hyperactive speedster, Conner had seen a lot of strange mixtures of foods.

Conner answered, "The storm woke me up. Why are you awake?" Apparently it was considered polite to incite conversations. Conner wasn't entirely certain that this was the proper way to start a conversation, but he tried anyways. Swift usually told him in the most patient and understanding manner when he messed up on some normal interaction.

Swift winced and plopped on the couch next to Conner before answering, "I didn't even hear the storm until you said something about it. I really hate lightning." For some reason, Swift ran a hand over his chest almost as if something was itchy there. He started eating his snack quickly. Conner noticed that the younger boy had avoided his question.

The clone mentally shrugged and inquired, "Why do you not like lightning?"

"You ever been struck by lightning, Supey? It sucks. Majorly." Swift answered, a frown marring his expression for a moment. Conner had been informed that saying suck in that situation meant that the subject was unpleasant, not that it had a vacuum like ability. The clone shook his head, indicating that, no, he had never been struck by lightning. He wondered if Superman had ever had that experience.

The two sat in relative silence for a few more minutes, Swift happily munching on his food while Conner happily watched the television. After a glance towards his teammate, Conner figured that something was bothering the boy. He wasn't entirely certain because he couldn't see his eyes; the completely black glasses that Swift and Robin wore to protect their identities often made it difficult to tell what they were thinking (he avoided using his x-ray vision to see their eyes because it didn't really matter to him that he didn't know their real identities). He figured that Swift was upset though because he was eating slower than usual and with much less enthusiasm. His constant need for motion seemed to have subsided because he was eerily still, staring at the television as if it held all the answers to life. There was a small frown tugging at the corner of the boy's lips and a weary slump to his shoulders. According to Black Canary, who had been teaching him signals that conveyed different emotions on humans, all of these signs led to the conclusion that Swift was plagued by some worry or doubt.

"You seem upset. Why?" Superboy asked gruffly. He still wasn't entirely certain how he was supposed to go about asking these types of things, so he was as straight forward as he could be.

Swift's lips curled into a wry smirk momentarily before falling into a frown again, "Is it that obvious? Well, it's nothing. I'm fine, just a little tired is all."

The weary slump to Swift's shoulders increased and Superboy scowled. This was the superhero who had promised him the moon and who had promised a meeting with Superman. This was the person who first called him a friend and who first gave him a nickname. This was the young boy who swore to teach Superboy everything about being human and to help him with any problem he could possibly have. And now this teammate was sad. That made Conner angry. He didn't want this person, who gave him the moon, to be sad. He didn't know how to fix it, though. Conner thought over what Black Canary taught him to do in situations like this, but most of them involved being told what the problem is first. Swift wouldn't tell him the problem.

Conner thought harder and scowled more when he realized that he still didn't know what to do. Then an idea came to him. On one of those… soap operas that Megan watched, he remembered the older brother of one of the characters hugging the younger brother when the younger brother was sad and wouldn't tell him why. So… should he hug Swift? Was he considered an older brother to the normally cheerful speedster? Conner determined that since Robin and Red Arrow claimed to be honorary older brothers to the speedster, then Superboy could claim the same title. So, now that he was an honorary older brother to Swift, the only logical course of action would be to hug to younger hero.

Superboy leaned over and enveloped Swift in a hug. It wasn't the most graceful of hugs and Conner was a little stiff because he wasn't entirely used to this whole hugging thing, but Swift relaxed into it after a moment and snuggled into Conner's chest, letting out an exhausted sigh. Conner thought back to the show and tried to remember what the older brother had done after hugging the younger brother and vaguely remembered him saying something comforting. Conner patted Swift on the back and said, "There, there, it'll be alright. You can tell me anything, you know." There, that sounded about right. To be honest, Conner was rather proud of himself. He managed to remember all of this stuff and it seemed to actually be working.

Swift laughed a little bit and said, "You've been watching soap operas with M'gann, haven't you?"

Superboy nodded and said worriedly, "Is this not what I'm supposed to do?"

"No!" Swift assured him, "No, that's not what it meant at all! This… this is nice, actually. Thank you."

"You're welcome." Conner nodded and pulled back, attempting to send his new honorary younger brother a smile that he figured probably looked more like a grimace. It was a work in progress.

Swift smiled at him and sniffed before saying, "Thank you again, Conner. It's just… I've been having a lot of bad dreams lately and it's kind of awful. I'm sure it'll get better though. I've just got a lot of stuff on my plate right now and once all of that is over with, I'm sure that the nightmares will pretty much go away."

Conner nodded sagely like they did on the shows and then frowned as a thought struck him, "You don't have a plate."

Swift gifted him with a confused glance before his mouth formed a perfect 'o' and he nodded to himself, "Right, I had forgotten that I hadn't taught you that one yet. It's another one of those idiom things. When someone says that they have a lot of stuff on their plate, it just means that they're really busy, or a lot is happening to them." Swift smiled and Conner nodded back expressionlessly. It was almost fifteen minutes later when Swift leaned against him. The younger boy had already put his peanut butter jar to the side, his food eaten. Now, he fell against Conner's shoulder and a quick moment of listening to the boy's evened out breathing and calm heartbeat told Conner that Swift had fallen asleep. The clone mentally shrugged to himself before going back to watching television. If sleeping on Conner's shoulder helped the speedster feel better, then Conner would let him do it whenever he wanted. Superboy just wanted the people who had freed him and given him everything they promised to give him to be happy. He thought that they deserved that much.

The rest of the Team found the two of them like that when the storm finished and the sun poked out above the horizon line. Kaldur had ignored it while Robin and Artemis snickered. M'gann simply cooed at them, giving Robin a disappointed glance when the teen took a picture of them. Conner was the only one who saw the soft glance and sad smile that Batman's current partner gave the sleeping speedster.


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Artemis and Wally just need to start dating already and the Failsafe simulation sucks monkey butt.

BBBBBB

Bruce was worried. And exhausted. Between his tireless days searching for Wally's father any way he could and his nights waking up to Wally screaming from some nightmare or another, he was practically dead on his feet. That didn't stop him from coming to the Mountain as soon as he could and pacing the room nervously (not that anyone would be able to tell he was nervous; they would probably just assume that the great Batman was angry). The children had yet to wake up. He had assumed that the simulation would go off without a hitch. Everyone on the Team agreed that it would be a good idea if they prepared for a continuity where the Justice League was gone and it was just them. Then Artemis had died and Miss Martian took over the simulation, convincing the rest that what they were experiencing was real. This was bad. Very bad.

His sons were in there, under the impression that he and their pseudo uncles and their brothers were all dead. He was terrified of what this might do to their already fragile mental states. Wally was barely staying on his feet most days, nightmares plaguing him at night and incessant lawyers from his mother plaguing him during the day. Bruce wasn't sure why his mother kept trying. Wally, being over the age of thirteen, had the right to choose which legal guardian he wished to stay with and just because she hadn't been charged with blinding him and carving a symbol into his chest or physically abusing him for his entire life, she had still been charged with letting those things happen and verbally abusing him which was just as bad, if not worse, as physical abuse. There was no way that Mary West could regain custody of her child.

And Wally knew that. He knew that no one would take him away from his loving family in the Wayne household, but he still stressed about it because it was a constant, nagging thought at the back of his mind and reporters were constantly asking him questions about it whenever he went to a social engagement (the billionaire had never been so pleased at the rule that any reporters within five hundred feet of Gotham Academy would be severely fined). They wouldn't let him forget about it and it was obvious how much it weighed on the blind child's mind. Dick had told Bruce that even at the Mountain where Wally was always a veritable ball of energy and light, Wally had become slightly sullen and a little withdrawn and he wouldn't fire as many insults back at the blonde archer that he seemed so intent on hating.

"They're waking up!" Barry smiled, relief etching deeply into his features. He was at Wally's side in an instant, making sure that the first thing Swift would see is Barry's smiling, and very much alive, face. Sometimes it hurt that Bruce couldn't be a father to his children when they were in costume and sometimes it hurt when Barry had to be the comforting mentor to his youngest child while he had to wait until they got back to the manor before he could comfort him. He knew that Wally didn't mind; that he understood, but it didn't make it any easier on the Dark Knight's mind.

Just then, Batman heard Robin's groans as he shifted on the platform where he had been resting. Robin blinked open his eyes sluggishly and Batman couldn't hold back the tiniest of smiles gently pulling at the corner of his lips. Robin, however, saw it and smiled broadly back at the caped crusader, a weary expression flitting across his face before being replaced by another smile, albeit slightly more strained. Batman glanced quickly over to the speedsters and saw much the same interaction being played out. He was so proud of his boys; staying strong until they could go somewhere private where they don't have to worry about keeping up an image for their friends or making sure that no hint about their secret identities snuck through the gaps in their composure.

Everyone was largely silent, the mentors hugging their protégés with all their might (Black Canary standing in for Superman) and the sidekicks drinking in the sight of their mentors as if blinking would bring them back to that place where the world was dark without the light of heroes to save them. Then, suddenly, Wally stood up, hand briefly resting against the slab he had been resting on, before walking towards where Green Arrow and Artemis were. The two archers looked up at him, a question in their eyes. Bruce's youngest, the everyone's surprise, enveloped Artemis in a hug and whispered (although it was quite loud in the silent expanse), "I'm glad you're not actually dead." He pulled back and kept his head tilted in her direction for a moment. It probably looked like he was making sure that she was alright by visually checking her over, but Bruce knew that the boy was memorizing her scent and the pattern of her heartbeat and the feel of her arms in his hands. Then he stepped back and the two speedsters were flying out of the room, the zeta beam announcing their departure soon afterwards.

Batman watched as Artemis ghosted her hands over the places Wally's hands had been, her mouth slightly open in surprise and her eyes staring at nothing in particular. Robin tugged Batman's cloak quickly and the Dark Knight turned to look at him, his scowl questioning. Robin tilted his head ever so slightly in the direction of the zeta beams and Batman got the hint. He and his son got up quickly and silently, moving towards the exit without anyone even realizing that there had been movement.

It didn't take them long to get home, and when they did, Wally was waiting in the Bat Cave, head tilted slightly like he was working out a particularly difficult math problem in his head. His fingers were shaking slightly as his hands were clasped in his lap. His legs were swinging uselessly from over the edge of the chair he was sitting in. Although he had abnormally long legs, he wasn't particularly tall and the chair was set up pretty high. The only indication he gave that he realized that they had come in was the shaking in his fingers decreased minutely. Bruce didn't say anything. He didn't need to, not yet. Wally got up and followed him and Dick up the stairs and into the living room where Wally immediately headed for his favorite chair and curled up, his head leaned tiredly against the arm. Dick leaped up next to him and curled up with his younger brother, the two of them offering silent comfort to each other as comrades who had been through the same harrowing experience. Bruce came over to them and kissed both on the foreheads, squeezing each of their hands and murmuring reassuring words to them as they fell asleep, cocooned on the couch.

It wasn't a surprise when they both woke up two hours later, gasping and sweaty, from a nightmare.

AAAAAA

Artemis wasn't sure what to do with herself. She was drowning in weird emotions and the only people she had to talk to about it were a Martian and a magician. She couldn't talk to her friends at school about it because she couldn't exactly tell them that a few weeks ago, she had died in a simulation where the Justice League was killed off and her death triggered an emotional problem with the simulation and everyone thought it was real and the person who she really thought she hated was apparently devastated about the fact that she died and he told her that he was glad that she was, in fact, still alive and he had looked at her (well, she assumed he did, but it was hard to tell with those dark goggles) for such a long time after that statement and her arms were warm where he touched them for days afterwards and she couldn't stop thinking about how wonderful it would feel if those lips touched her own and she didn't know why because she hated the kid a few weeks ago. That was why she couldn't tell her school friends. And she somehow doubted that sweet Megan with her relationship with Conner could relate. Her best bet was Zatanna, but she was off on vacation with her dad or something and Artemis was dying.

She couldn't sort through her feelings and she hadn't even seen Swift since the simulation; no one had. Apparently Flash and Batman had ordered their protégés to do no superhero related activities for a while during which time they were supposed to recuperate. Artemis personally thought that spending time with the people who actually went through the situation with them was a better idea, but that might be her developing crush talking. Wait, what? She did not have a developing crush. Did she? Artemis groaned into her pillow and sighed loudly.

After a moment's deliberation, she stood up. She was bigger than this. She wasn't going to let some random teenager angst get her down. She was going to find M'gann and watch some chick flick with her since Swift wasn't there to make fun of her. Artemis was going to halt all thoughts of Swift and the simulation and she was going to have fun if it was the last thing she did. There. It was decided.

With that, she walked out of her room towards the kitchen where it was almost a certainty to find the Martian girl when she was upset and she had been upset for the past couple of weeks, filled with guilt over the results of the training exercise. Artemis turned the corner into the kitchen and then stopped cold.

Swift was standing right there. He was alone in the kitchen eating one of the boxes of cookies that Megan had left on the island with a note reading For Swift Only. He was staring right at her! This wasn't what was supposed to happen! She was supposed to watch some stupid movie with one of her best friends and completely forget about him and here he was in the kitchen where he wasn't supposed to be!

She finally realized that she had been staring at him for far too long, his hand halfway to his mouth as he waited for her to say something. She shook her head a little bit and grunted a hello. Using food as an excuse for coming in here, she grabbed an apple from the fridge and bit into it. Swift just nodded back to her in greeting. They sat there in silence for almost two minutes; more time than Artemis had ever heard the speedster stay quiet.

When they did decide to talk, they spoke at the same time. Artemis's inquiry as to what he's been up to clashed with Swift asking how she's been. They both blushed and Swift rolled his hand in a universal 'you first' motion. Artemis cleared her throat and asked, "How's it been off active duty for the past couple of weeks?"

Swift shrugged noncommittally and answered, "Not as bad as I thought it was going to be. The Rogues had been quiet for a couple of weeks leading up to the, uh, that day anyways, so it's not like there was a lot of crime to fight anyways. So, um, how've you been?"

Artemis mimicked his actions and shrugged, "Pretty good. I'm not taking this as hard as the rest of you are since I wasn't there when you all started believing it was real, so… it's mainly just hard watching everyone get upset." Swift nodded at her and fell silent again. Artemis really looked at him now that he was focusing back on the cookies. His pallor was paler than normal and there was gauntness to his features that she'd never seen before. He was sitting slumped on top of the island, cookies moving towards his mouth and being devoured slower than she'd ever seen. There was something in the listless way that he sat, hunched over and thin, that made Artemis think of the desolate people she had seen on the streets of Star City who had lost everything. It was… terrifying to see that same look in one of the world's heroes. They were there to bring light to world and to make sure everyone knew that they were safe and protected. Speedsters did this job best of all, always making sure that everyone was smiling, civilians and heroes alike. Until this moment when Swift let her see a vulnerable part of his soul, Artemis truly believed that speedsters didn't have the mental capacity to be sad. It just didn't seem like something that could come true.

And now, now the light that attracted the other sidekick's to its flame was dying out, puttering its last, hopeless breaths as they watched. Artemis realized with a start that this wasn't the first time that she had seen him like this. It was certainly the most desolate she had seen him, but she had caught glimpses of his dark, depressed Swift before the simulation. It had been in the couple of weeks leading up to the simulation, actually. Something had been bothering him for a while now and the stupid training session had probably only made it worse. She didn't know if it was a superhero thing or if it was something going on at home, but she was determined that she was going to make it better. She didn't know how, but she was.

After a moment's hesitation, Artemis jumped up next to Swift, careful not to dislodge the mountain of cookie boxes waiting to be eaten by Swift (M'gann was a stress baker and Artemis would never admit to helping her bake them). They sat there for a long time. The female archer had finished her apple and tossed it into the garbage bin perfectly, earning a wry smile from the person sitting next to her. He offered her his cookies and they munched on the only slightly burnt delicacies for a while, content to enjoy this moment in silence. Finally, Artemis took a risk and leaned her head against Swift's shoulder. She didn't know his real name or what he looked like under that mask. She didn't know what his birthday was or who his parents were or where he lived. She knew that she liked him, though; a lot actually. She knew that she wanted him to go back to his loud, obnoxious, annoying self and she knew that she'd do anything to help him get there. The younger boy (she didn't care about age; it was two years and she didn't really think that that mattered when they were teenage superheroes with the world resting on their shoulders and a very real chance that they wouldn't make it into adulthood) stiffened for a moment, before relaxing into the lean. They sat like that until they heard people start to enter the room. They hastily separated and moved into the living room where the others sat down, strangely quiet and serious.

When Black Canary entered the room, Artemis realized that Swift and the others were probably here to get therapy for the simulation. Swift and Artemis shared a secretive smile while the first person was called into the room where BC had decided to set up.

VVVVVV

Vandal growled as his latest report came in. Everything was going wrong. It was going completely wrong and all his plans would be ruined because of it. If he couldn't get the Young Justice League out of the way, he wouldn't be able to complete his plans for the Justice League. That speedster brat wasn't breaking like he was supposed to!

Psimon had been parading around the boy's mindscape every night, bringing forth his worst fears and nightmares and settling them at the forefront of his mind so he would be forced to relive them and wake up screaming. That had the added bonus of waking up the other members of the Bat Clan, meaning that the entire group was functioning on little sleep and a lot of stress. It was amusing watching them run around looking for the speedster's father while trying to get the boy's mother to leave them all alone. The failed simulation exercise their mole had told them about had seemed like a blessing to the plan. That mixed with his mother badgering them and his father missing and the constant nightmares seemed like it would finally break the boy. For a while, Vandal Savage had thought it had worked.

Swift had been taken off the streets and benched from crime fighting and reports from the mole and from Psimon said that he seemed more and more tired every day, withdrawing further and further into himself as the nightmares became too real and the lack of sleep became too much. Then… then that girl interfered.

Something that archer said or did made the speedster happy again, which was not okay. She was ruining all of this! She was supposed to be some irrelevant variable that would only affect the operation positively. The two were supposed to hate each other and now she was ruining all of their plans!

Vandal growled and pressed a button, signaling a call to all of the other members of the Light. After a few moments, the screens lit up, showing that the other members were listening. He commanded, "We are moving to plan B of Operation: Breaking Speed. Our original plan does not seem to be working, so we will have to take more drastic measures. We begin planning tomorrow."


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Minor cliff hangers and little pranks abound.

WWWWWW

Zatanna's father had just permanently taken on the form of Doctor Fate. Nabu barely even said anything to his host body's daughter before he flew off, leaving them all a little confused and not quite sure what to do. All the mentors would feel bad for molly coddling their sidekicks after Zatanna was just basically rejected. Wally shrugged to himself and zoomed over to where the magician's daughter was standing. He didn't know her very well, but he could hear the thundering of her heart and the little clicks in her throat as she tried swallowing down her sobs and he was a hero, so it was his job to help people in need and she was definitely in need. The second his echo locator informed him it was close enough, Wally enveloped the older girl in a hug, rubbing comforting circles on her back as she buried her head in his shoulder.

Hesitant footsteps approached them, but Wally didn't pay attention until a hand bumped into one of his own and then moved up, apparently running through Zatanna's hair. Swift inhaled quietly, noticing the sweet fragrance of lilies and the tangy scent of sweat mixed with the delicate aroma of lavender laundry detergent and the harsh smell of cleaning supplies. It was the unique blend of smells that let Wally identify the fact that it was Artemis who stood next to him, comforting one of her friends. He gave her general direction a small nod and felt the displacement of air as she nodded back.

Soon, Zatanna's sniffles slowed and, eventually, stopped. She stepped back and took a deep breath, probably giving the others encouraging smiles. The others offered their condolences, but Wally zipped back towards where his uncle, his father, and his brother were standing. He whispered, "I missed you." Anyone who might have overheard the statement (cough Superboy cough) would probably just assume that it was aimed towards Flash, but Swift knew that his adoptive father would know that he meant it for both of them. Wally wasn't sure if he could have dealt with them permanently disappearing.

Once they got Zatanna squared away living at the Mountain, Wally finally let himself think. He immediately zoomed up to his room once they got back to the manor, flopping onto his bed and just lying there.

It hadn't been much of a surprise that Artemis had comforted her friend. That was a no brainer that she would do that. What Wally was confused about was the small calloused hand that had brushed against his own before going through the other girl's hair. Why would Artemis have brushed fingers with him? It wasn't like it was an accident; his hands were on her back which was significantly lower than her hair.

A lot of stuff like this had been happening lately. They spent more time together and less of it was filled with them insulting each other. They still bantered, but it was more for challenges than for annoyance. Wally would almost say that their interactions had become less hostile and more… playful. He wondered if this meant that Artemis liked him like that. He had come to his own slow realization of his feelings for her as he went through his talks with Dinah about the simulation, but he never thought that she could return the feelings. After that day where she had leaned against him and they had eaten cookies, Wally's nightmares had become tamer and tamer to the point that he could actually go to sleep again after having them. He took that as a sign that he really liked her. And then there was the problem that even if she did like him, she had no idea who he was. She only knew him as Swift, not as Wally West-Wayne. Would that cause resentment in their friendship or (he could only hope) relationship? Or would she understand the fact that he couldn't tell her his secret identity. It was difficult to think about because he really didn't know how she would react to that and she didn't even know if she liked him. Wally groaned and buried his head further into his pillow.

"Walls?" Colin's voice filtered in through the door and soft footsteps pattered towards his bed, the mattress dipping under the weight of another person. Colin's voice spoke again, closer and oh so calm, "Is something wrong?" Ever since he turned nineteen and Dami proposed to him, Colin had been living in Wayne manor with the rest of them. Most of the Wayne family was confused as to why the two of them didn't just move out, but Colin told Wally that Dami wanted to keep an eye on Wally for as long as he could.

Wally's voice was muffled by the pillow as he answered, "S'nothing. Just a girl."

The blind teen could practically feel the delight radiating from Colin's voice as he answered, "Oh really? Do you have your eye on a girl from school Walls? What's she like?"

"It's Artemis from the Team. I don't think she likes me back, but I can't tell. And even if she does like me, she only likes Swift and not Wally. She never talks to me at school even though I hang out with her group of friends all the time because of Sally. It's awful." Wally grumbled. Talking to Colin always made him feel better because he was the only one in this household who would coo over him and spoil him to make him feel better. The others just told him tough luck and laughed at him.

Speaking of the cooing, Colin cooed at Wally and said, "Poor Swift. Why don't you tell her how you feel and then say that you still can't reveal your secret identity, but if she's okay with that, then ask her out and go on a date and be wonderful? How about that?"

"Would that really work?" Colin's ideas worked most of the time and he was actually in a loving relationship, something that Wally as of yet could never boast, but the teen was still skeptical. It couldn't be that simple, could it?

Wally felt the wind displacement as Colin nodded, probably adopting a sagely expression and being proud of himself. Wally wrinkled his nose and said hesitantly, "Alright, I'll try that. But if it doesn't work, you have to do my chores for a week!"

Colin leaned back quickly and then called across the hallway, "Dami! You're brother's threatening me!"

"Nah-uh! I'm making a deal with him!" Wally shouted back.

Dami spoke loudly, "I'm in the middle of something! Stop shouting at me!"

"Why are you all shouting so much? Shut up already!" Jason called from his room several doors down.

"What does it take to get some peace and quiet in this house?" Tim shouted from his room, Steph giggling from within.

"You're the one that makes all that noise doing whatever weird stuff it is you do with Stephanie in your room!" Jason yelled back.

"Be quiet, all of you!" Bruce's voice could be heard from even farther down the hallway.

"Yeah! Shut up, all of you!" Dick called from the room next door.

"Who are you telling to shut up, Grayson?" Damian's voice started up again.

"I would have thought it was obvious from the all of you part of my statement, but apparently you're too stupid to realize it!" Dick answered loudly.

Before Damian could respond, Steph called out, "Uh oh! You upset the Great and Terrible Demon, I mean Damian! Cower in fear from his wrath!"

"Shut up fat girl!" Damian called back.

"Don't be mean, Dami!" Colin joined back into the conversation. From down the hallway, they could all hear Bruce groaning.

The shouting match continued until Alfred stated, quite calmly, "Perhaps it would be prudent if you all quieted down."

The shouting immediately stopped and Bruce grumbled from his spot, "Why do they listen to you and not their father?" Alfred just chuckled and walked back down the stairs. Wally loved his family.

AAAAAA

Artemis was sitting in the kitchen, idly working on some chemistry homework. She was really bad at chemistry. It was interesting enough and everything, but she just wasn't good enough. Personally, she blamed the teacher. He was a lousy teacher who had no control over his classrooms and was a definite pervert. It was awful.

Suddenly the zeta beam broke into song:

"Faster than the speed of light

Hugging all the curves

Hang on to your life

Faster than the speed of light

Supercharged and flying low

She's liquid dynamite."

For a second, whoever came in (Artemis was going to take a wild guess and assume it was Swift), just paused and Artemis could imagine him giving the contraption a look of pure confusion and her lips quirked up a little bit in a smile.

Then he came into the kitchen and grabbed a box of cookies (there were still boxes left over from Megan's cooking spree even with a speedster working at eating them). He sat down on top of the island and munched into a cookie, "Robin rigged the zeta beam thing, didn't he?" For some reason, Artemis detected a note of… nervousness in the speedster's voice. That couldn't be right.

Artemis ignored it in favor of rolling her eyes and saying, "Yep. Red Arrow came in and helped. They're pretty proud of themselves and are apparently certain that it'll take even Batman a while to get it back to normal. They also mentioned something about wanting to make you feel better or something like that. I wasn't really listening."

They sat in silence for a couple seconds, Swift swinging his feet back and forth and eating his cookies and glancing between Artemis and the floor. She wasn't sure what his problem was, but it was annoying the heck out of her, especially since she was trying to focus on her homework. Just before she commented on it, he spoke up, "So, whatcha working on?"

"Homework for chemistry. It sucks." Artemis answered distractedly, worrying the eraser of her pencil with her teeth, not sure how to do the question.

After another pause, Swift asked, "Want some help? You're a sophomore, right? It's towards the end of the school year, so I'm guessing you're working on solutions and/or acids and bases right about now? Having issues with solutions stoichiometry? Or maybe titration calculations?" Artemis gave him a shocked look, spluttering slightly. He just grinned in her direction and said, "I used to work with Batman you know. Although I'm not exactly the super sleuth Robin is, I'm still pretty good."

Artemis answered slowly, "I'm working on solutions stoich and I can't quite figure it out." She was highly disturbed that he was able to figure that much out. Did he know her identity and her parentage? That could put a dent in their relationship. Not that they had a relationship!

Her mental panic attack was put to a stop when Swift said, "Read me the questions and I'll talk you through them. I'm pretty good at chemistry. I don't feel like moving though, so I'll just talk it through instead of writing it out." That was weird. She had a hard enough time doing these problems when she was writing them down, let alone doing them in her head. She shrugged to herself and started reading the first question out loud.

A half an hour later found the two in the same position with Artemis being significantly more knowledgeable on her homework and Swift somehow still eating cookies. They were working through a problem when the zeta beam started spouting:

"Now the party don't start 'til I walk in.

Don't stop, make it pop

DJ, blow my speakers up

Tonight, Imma fight

'Til we see the sunlight

TiK ToK, on the clock

But the party don't stop no

Whoa-oh oh oh

Whoa-oh oh oh."

They glanced up curiously. With a theme song like that, it could have been anyone. A lowly growled, "Robin," instantly told them that it was Batman who had just stalked through the zeta beam to that particular music. The two giggled to themselves, but tried to keep it quiet because Batman seemed to always know when people were laughing at him. Robin popped up out of nowhere (as usual) and gave the teens in the kitchen two thumbs up, stopping to whisper something in Swift's ear as he turned to corner to the main room.

Artemis watched a grin spread across Swift's face at whatever Robin said before the grin evolved into a laugh at the sound of Robin's innocent, "What's up Batman?" coming from the other room.

Without giving anyone room to pause, the zeta beam started singing again:

"Flash a-ah

King of the impossible

He's for every one of us

Stand for every one of us

He save with a mighty hand

Every man, every woman

Every child, with a mighty

Flash"

That one wasn't hard to guess and it was only a second later when Flash zipped into the kitchen, an oddly pleased look on his face. Apparently he approved of his song choice more than Batman did. The thought caused Artemis to snicker again and Swift's head turned in her direction, tilted to the side a little bit. She noticed that he did that every time he was confused about something. It was kind of adorable.

Flash looked between the two of them and grinned, causing Artemis to blush. Apparently it wasn't as embarrassing to Swift because he just continued to peacefully eat his cookies. Knowing him he probably completely missed the look Flash had given the two of them. He was talented that way. Flash spoke up then, distracting her from her thoughts, "Swift, we need to split. There's a Rogue attack downtown."

Swift stood and talked even as they walked out of the kitchen, throwing a wave at Artemis as he left, "What Rogues? Everyone but Piper and Boomerang are in prison right now. They can't honestly think that a two-man heist is going to work for them."

She could hear the shrug in Flash's voice as he answered, "Maybe they just wanted to see us." Swift's answering laugh was bright and carefree. She realized that she hadn't been hearing that laugh for a while. He'd been down in the dumps about something or another and it had really been wearing the Team down too. Whenever he was unhappy, there wasn't anyone to make everyone else happy. In hindsight, it was kind of awful to put all of this on his shoulders, but he was the only one who could change the mood so quickly and so positively. Just then, the zeta beam started singing again:

"Got the Neptune shuffle

And the Pluto blues

Don't nobody boogie

Like us Martians do

Gonna boogie

Gonna boogie

We're gonna boogie

Till the break of day."

Megan's confused questions could be heard coming from the main room. Artemis growled to herself. That was getting real annoying real fast.

WWWWWW

It hadn't taken long to subdue Piper and Boomerang. It was weird, though. When Flash and Swift tried to joke around with the two of them, they refused to talk to them at all. They were never like this and it was kind of freaking Wally out. At the last minute, as they were being pushed into the cop cars, Pied Piper called out, "You be careful Swift, alright? Take care of yourself, okay?"

Captain Boomerang pitched in with, "Make sure he stays safe Flash, got that?" And then they were in the cop cars being driven off to Belle Reeve. That was really weird. The fact that they were telling him to stay safe wasn't all that weird because they mother henned him like crazy. If mother henning was a team Olympic sport, it would be a close tie between the Justice League and the Rogues. It was so annoying sometimes! But this time was different. They sounded weird; off as they were saying it. And there was the fact that they hadn't talked to them earlier. Were they planning a trap? Did they have some sort of trick up their sleeve? Weird.

Wally shrugged to himself and smiled to Uncle Barry, waving, "See you, Flash! I'm gonna head home. I'll see you for patrol tomorrow."

Barry's voice held a frown in it as he said, "Why don't I run you home, Swift? I don't like the way they were talking and it'd probably be safer. Or you could use the zeta beam. That'd probably be the safest."

"Come on, Flash!" Wally pouted, "You know I like the run home because I get to just run by myself for myself! It's one of the best parts of the day!" And it was. That short run from Central to Gotham almost every day was amazing. It was just him and the wind flying, leaping, soaring gracefully across fresh, wild land interspersed with sprawling towns and looming cities. Uncle B knew how important it was for a speedster to run off all their excess energy and he knew how important it was for a Bat to spend time on their own. The run back to Gotham was the perfect mixture and Uncle Barry couldn't spoil it, not when he'd been so put down for the longest time worrying about everything and having nightmares nightly.

He heard his uncle and mentor sigh before he said resignedly, "Alright, kid. Have it your way. Enjoy your little run, but… just be careful, yeah? Ugh, I sound like the Rogues now. What I mean to say is, keep your ears open and don't be afraid to call if you need help." Wally smiled in his uncle's direction, letting him know that he'd keep his senses on high alert and he would be vigilant throughout the run. He swore he would call the instant he spotted trouble. He felt Barry nod back and then he was off, running cross country in the purest sense of the term. He was literally running from the middle of America to the east coast. It was exhilarating.

Wally took the time to think about the time he had just spent with Artemis. He felt even closer to her than before. He had originally gone in there planning on telling her exactly how he felt just like Colin told him to, but then he had gotten there and he had smelled her perfect, unique scent and he had heard the steady, unperturbed beat of her heart that always made him feel so grounded. And he had realized that she might not like him back. He had realized that this might put a permanent dent in their friendship and she might never want to see him again and he couldn't deal with that. He couldn't deal with never smelling that gorgeous scent, with never hearing that beautiful heartbeat that was so like music to his ears. So, he had panicked and ended up asking her about what she was working on. He could smell the paper and the ink on it and had assumed it was homework of some kind.

He was really bad at this kind of thing. Not that he'd ever tried before. Maybe that was his problem. Maybe it would get easier if he just practiced it. How could he practice it if there was only one person he wanted to date, though? This was hard!

Just then, he heard the sound of a heartbeat in front of him and he skidded to a stop. Based on the echoes he was hearing, the person in front of him (if it really was a person) was huge, like, Bane sized huge. Swift tilted his head to the side, confused. There was something really weird about that heartbeat. It reminded him of something, of someone, from long ago. Whose heartbeat was it? He didn't think he had ever interacted with someone this large in his early stages of heightened senses.

He was so focused on listening to the man's heartbeat, trying to remember where it was from, that he didn't hear the thing he'd thrown until it was moments away from hitting him in the face. He dodged quickly to the side, hearing it whoosh by before suddenly turning and coming straight at him again! He had only moved half a step to the left, so he didn't have enough time to get away completely before it latched onto his comms. Wally's breath hitched as he realized it was the same device Joker had used to knock out his comms the day the maniac had taken him.

Zooming quickly away, Wally found himself at a bit of a loss as to where to go. From what he gathered (based on his former speed of running and specs of the path he took mixed with the sounds coming from all around him), he was in a large open plain. He couldn't run very fast because that stupid machine had knocked out his echolocation device and he couldn't call for help either. He really needed to invest in something that made it so electronic device cancelling gadgets didn't work on his gear anymore because they were seriously proving to be his downfall.

"I finally get my chance to kill the Thing!" A voice called out from the direction of the large man before laughter tumbled from his lips. Wally froze. That heartbeat. That voice. That crazed laughter. It couldn't be. It couldn't possibly be. No no no nononononononoNONONONO! That was not happening! This was all just some stupid dream. It couldn't really be his father that stood before him.

But it was. It was Rudolph West and he apparently wanted to finish the job and actually kill his son this time. And Wally couldn't run as fast as usual and he couldn't contact him on the comms. Wait. Did the Rogues know about this? Was that why they were so quiet and withdrawn earlier today? Had they helped set this up?! Wally took a calming breath. Blaming people when there was no proof that it was their fault was not his style and he always ridiculed people who did it. He would not become a hypocrite today.

None of that was helping the fact that his father was standing in front of him and he was humongous and he smelled like rotting flesh and there was a hint of something that smelled like magic on him, but that wouldn't make any sense. Then, suddenly, there was something flying at him from the side. He only had a moment to connect the sound of displaced wind and rustling leaves to the fact that there was a tree about to hit him before he moved. Not a second later, the tree crashed down where he had been standing.

Suddenly there was a sharp pain on the side of his cheek and he realized that his father had used his distraction to throw a knife at him. If he hadn't moved his head to tilt his ear towards the tree, the knife probably would have gone straight through his goggles and into his eye. The thought made him shudder. He had had enough of that already.

Wally took advantage of his opponent's (so much easier to think of him as an opponent rather than his own father) distracted growl to race towards him and around, jabbing his hand towards the base of the opponent's neck where it should have hit a nerve and momentarily paralyzed him. It didn't work like that, however. Wally's hand sunk into the neck. The speedster had to fight against gagging as he pulled his fingers out with a quiet squelch. There wasn't a moment to lose because the opponent was suddenly swinging an arm back at him. He ducked, rolling between where the feet should be and pulling his cane out of his leg holster. Gripping the dragon topped part of the cane; he held it firmly, waiting for his opponent to strike. He was relying entirely on his sense of smell, hearing, taste, and touch because without his echolocation device in working order the world slipped away and became much more difficult to navigate.

Wally was really starting to wish he'd let Barry run him home.

Just then, there was another tree flying at him (where were all these trees coming from; he was pretty sure they were in a clearing and he was definitely sure that there weren't any trees near enough to grab, but the only option that left was telekinesis and he did not want to entertain the thought that his father had telekinesis) and he ducked to the side. Just in time to receive a very powerful punch to the abdomen. Wally heard his ribs creak and snap beneath the hand, as he coughed up blood in surprise.

Did his biological father somehow develop super strength? The only person Wally had even felt punch him like that was Superboy when he was still under Cadmus mind control. This couldn't be happening. It couldn't. First of all, his father was here and Wally didn't have a way of leaving here. Second of all, his father had telekinesis and super strength. Wally was aware that his thoughts were becoming more frantic and less focused on the fight as he went, but he thought that he had pretty good reason for freaking out.

Swift bent backwards to avoid another punch, grunting with pain as his ribs heavily protested the movement. That was unpleasant. He swung his cane around, listening as it made a satisfying crunch against his father's head and the man stumbled back, roaring with rage. As Wally moved in for a flurry of strikes, he comforted himself with the thought that Barry was seemingly extra paranoid today and would probably call Bruce soon enough to make sure that he got home. If he wasn't home by then (which he was starting to think he wouldn't be), then they would come out looking for him. He had people on the way, so he didn't have to freak out quite as much anymore.

Suddenly, his father's voice called out, "Keard eht enac ni eht dnah fo ym nos!" and his precious, treasured dragon cane shattered in his fingers, a couple of pieces catching him in the side and slicing open his suit and the skin beneath it. Well, he could start freaking out more now. His father had telekinesis and super strength and freaking magic! He knew he was belaboring the point a little bit, but he was freaking out! This was not okay, not okay at all! He was going to die and no one was going to find his body and he was going to die by his own father's hand even after his family promised him that they would keep him safe from his biological parents.

Wally shook his head and he avoided another few punches and threw a couple back himself; he couldn't afford to think so negatively. He needed to stay positive and fight as hard as he could to survive. He could do this. He would do this!

With renewed vigor, Wally ignored his broken ribs and his forming bruises and the lacerations on his side and did a baseball slide between where he was pretty sure Rudolph's legs were. He stood up quickly and leaped onto his father's back, grabbing a dulo-dulo from one of his pouches and smashing it into the nerve cluster he had been aiming at earlier. The weapon sunk into the neck again (Wally could smell rotting flesh and assumed that whatever it was that had been done to his father to give the man superpowers was making him rot away), but this time it hit the nerves. His father fell like a sack of stones.

Wally rolled off of him just in time to avoid getting his legs trapped underneath and he wiped his dulo-dulo off on some grass, wrinkling his nose and how unbelievably gross that was. He found a pair of handcuffs that were basically guaranteed to hold most anything and cuffed his father. Next, he pulled off the device still stuck to his earpiece and clicked a button. He didn't hear any static or mechanical buzzing. Fantastic. His tech was fried. That meant that he was stranded out here until someone came and found him, which could take any length of time.

Swift was about to sit down and make himself comfortable when he heard the sound of a small, sleek aircraft. The purr of the motor reminded him of… the Bat Plane. Yes! His family was already here! He didn't think that it was soon enough for them to have started worrying about him, but, then again, speedster timing was always off. He grinned at them as he heard their heartbeats and their footsteps getting off the plane. His hand was curled protectively around his midsection and he could feel blood oozing lazily from several of his more serious cuts, but it was okay because his family was here and they had finally found his father and everything was fine.

He heard Dick's footsteps run closer and stop close to him. He grinned again, "Sorry bro, but I don't think I can do a hug right now. I know you wanna hug all this awesomeness, but I'm not sure the ribs could take it." He didn't hear the normal laugh coming from his family. They were all there (Bruce, Tim, Jason, Damian, Cass, Dick) too, which was weird. He was pretty sure that Tim had gone back to his team in California and he was certain that Cass had still been in Hong Kong.

Before Wally could ask about that, or act offended that no one had laughed at his (admittedly) lame joke, someone smashed their fists into his broken ribs. He fell to the ground, clutching them and wheezing a little. Who had just punched him? He didn't hear any new heartbeats and the only one standing close enough to him to punch him was… Robin. But that didn't make any sense! He wouldn't have punched him! Maybe they were clones.

That theory didn't make enough sense, though. They still smelled like his family. He could even smell the cookies on Robin's glove from when he had swiped one of Wally's cookies earlier this morning. And Jason had that overwhelming scent of gun powder that followed him everywhere. They couldn't have replicated that on clones, could they have? But then, that would mean that his family was attacking him. He groaned out, "Robin, Batman, what's going on?"

Robin just cackled and punched him again.

His family was out to get him.


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wally's life just generally sucks, but Barry is awesome.

WWWWWW

Wally was lucky he survived the battle. They had done this before, during training. They had set one member of the Bat Clan against all the rest just so they would be prepared for anything. In hindsight, though, it didn't really prepare him for anything. It's completely different when your family is attacking you with the intent to hurt, not train. It's completely different when none of them are holding back even the slightest. It's completely different when he's not sure if he'll make it out of there alive. But he fought. And he held back only enough that he wouldn't kill them or permanently damage them because they weren't holding back at all.

After those initial punches, it had turned into a battle as opposed to the grappling, desperate brawl he had fought with his father. Wally stood quicker than the human mind could comprehend and flipped backwards, his foot catching his brother in the chin as he moved. That didn't stop Dick from grabbing his ankle on the way and twisting sending Wally tumbling to the ground with his broken ribs shifting and a likely strained ankle. This wasn't good. This wasn't good at all. At least, with only one of them fighting him, he had somewhat of a chance. The second they banded together, he was doomed.

Taking to ignoring the pain in his ankle and his side, Wally rolled just as a batarang dug into the ground where his head had been. He flipped up again and punched rapidly towards Dick's face. He connected a few, but Dick dodged others, used to training with a speedster or two. Then Dick was up in the air, jumping and flipping like gravity had no hold on him and Wally dodged every blow he tried to make, feeling the wind move as a foot came near his face, hearing an arm whistle through the air as it tried to snap his arm. Then Robin threw something to the ground. Wally heard the impact, but nothing exploded, so that was good. He would have been able to outrun the explosion anyways. So, then, what did Robin just hit the ground with.

And then he smelt it. It was a type of smoke bomb that released noxious fumes with an incredibly repugnant odor that filled up the air around him. He couldn't breathe. He fumbled around his utility belt for a moment before finding his own little supply of oxygen. Putting the thing into his mouth and taking a huge breath, he felt a little better. But then he realized that it didn't cover his nose. He could still smell the smoke and it was awful. With his heightened senses, the smell practically burned as it went through his nostrils and he couldn't concentrate on anything other than the begging need to get away from that smell. A small fist colliding with his cheek snapped him back into reality.

Wally tried to forget about the smell, but it wasn't that easy. It still permeated his thoughts and he was barely able to focus on his fight with Robin. He was basically relying on his fast reflexes to keep himself away from the battle. Suddenly, from behind him, a leg swept his feet out from beneath him and then there was a gunshot, the bullet digging into the ground next to Wally's head, just clipping his ear. The blind hero had to assume that Jason (because no one else used a gun, but why would Jason be shooting at him in the first place) couldn't see through the smoke bomb that still tweaked his nose and stole his attention. This was bad. This was really really bad. There were two of them fighting him at the same time and he was bleeding and bruised and his ankle was twisted and there were a lot of broken ribs on his side and this all came from his biological father and his family. They were all hurting him and he didn't know what to do; he couldn't function knowing that this was his family who were so mercilessly fighting him and trying to take him down.

He would just ignore that fact. Wally would let himself forget for a little bit that it was his family that he was fighting and he would just think of them as opponents like he did with his fight with his father. He could do this. They were just opponents. Really well equipped and well trained opponents who knew his every move. Wally forced himself to ignore that too, flipping up and ducking as another bullet whizzed by him. He was the fastest teenager alive. He was a superhero. He's been trained by the Bat Clan and by the Scarlet Speedster. He can do this. He can do this.

With that last line of encouragement, Wally moved between his two opponents and kept dodging and sweeping their legs out from under them and jumping when they tried to do the same to him. He managed to dodge most of their attacks and landed a few himself. He was comforted by the fact that their sense of sight was probably negligible then because he could still smell the thick, awful smoke hanging in the air. It must have been treated with something to make it stay for a long period of time without dispersing. He thought to himself, going over every battle strategy he knew for attacking two people on either side at the same time. It wasn't looking good. They knew all his strategies and reacted accordingly whenever he tried to enact them. This wasn't working!

Fine, he could deal. He would just think of a new strategy. He would think of something different that they hadn't seen him use before. Okay. What assets did he have? He could hear them really well and so knew what their attacks were going to be the second they started doing it. He knew their attack patterns as well as they knew his. He didn't have to see to fight, but they did and the smoke was, presumably, blocking their sight. Hey, he could use that! He knew what to do.

So he drew the two of them in, calling out taunts and ignoring the smoke that fell on his tongue and manage to taste worse than it smelled. He made them fight in closer and closer quarters and he maneuvered them into just the right position before making his move. He felt the smoke move as Red Hood lifted his gun, the trajectory that Wally calculated making it so the gun was aimed right at his head. Directly opposite, Robin pulled out a batarang and aimed it, ready to throw.

The second both opponents made their shots, Wally fell to the ground. They couldn't see that they were directly opposite each other and they wouldn't have his reaction time to dodge the incoming projectiles. Luckily, he was shorter than all of his brothers, so what was a head shot for him was a shoulder shot on Robin and an arm shot on Red Hood. Robin stumbled back, his arm moving (presumably to clutch at his shoulder wound) and Wally could hear the blood sluggishly seeping from his bullet wound. Wally wasted no time in lifting himself up and running around behind Robin, hitting a cluster of nerves at the base of his neck and using his advantage to cuff Robin and throw him to the side, out of the way. He heard his brother's cry of pain as his bullet wound was jostled but Wally couldn't find it in him to feel remorseful at the moment. Robin hadn't seemed to care about how Wally felt when he punched him in his broken ribs, so he wouldn't care about Robin's injuries until all of this was over.

Wally switched his attention to Red Hood. His interaction with Robin had taken probably five seconds at the most, so Red Hood shouldn't be ready to attack again yet, but he couldn't be sure. He heard labored breathing as his Red Hood pulled something out of his arm with a squelch. That was probably the batarang. Wally tossed himself to the side as the batarang came flying at him, blood splattering throughout the air as it was whipped from the device. Wally ran forward quickly and knocked the gun from Red Hood's hand, mercilessly punching the batarang injury before twirling out of the way and punching Red Hood under the jaw. He could actually hear his opponent's brain impacting his skull (which was a way to knock someone unconscious) which was gross, but Wally had heard that sound a lot over his years fighting as a superhero. Red Hood collapsed to the ground and Wally cuffed him too, pushing him out of the way.

The Central City hero zipped away from the cloud of smoke, running to the side until he wasn't suffocating in that awful, brutal scent. There, he bent down, catching his breath. Panic had left him gasping for air which in turn aggravated his broken ribs. Any relief he had received from the bruises from fighting his father healing was lost because of the countless bruises his own brothers had littered his body with. Running around and fighting hadn't done any wonders for his twisted ankle and it had reopened any healing lacerations not to mention all of the cuts he had received from Robin and Red Hood. All in all, he wasn't in very good shape and he wasn't done yet. He could hear footsteps nearing him and recognized them as Tim and Cass's. Why were they still fighting him? What had he done to them that they were like this? Hadn't they told him that they would never hurt him, that they would protect him with their lives? Now, now they were coming after him and fighting him and hurting him. Did they not want him anymore? Was this their way of getting rid of him? They saw that his father was unconscious on the ground not that far away and realized that this was a perfect opportunity to get rid of him. He was tired from his short battle with the Rogues and he hadn't been paying attention on his way home and he had been attacked by this monster that he used to call father and that monster killed him. Was that the story they were going to tell others once they had killed him? Did he disappoint them that much?

No, Wally shook his head and dodged out of the way of a strike from Cass. This wasn't his fault. This was… this was something else. His family would never hurt him. They wouldn't. As he blocked a couple of blows from Tim and dealt a few back himself, a memory rose to the forefront of Wally's mind, unbidden. His father's voice as he told him, "I want the entire world to know what a freak you are. I want them to see you and instantly know how much of a piece of trash you are." He remembered the feeling of the blade digging into his chest, carving his failure into his skin for the rest of the world to see. He remembered his father saying, "I don't have a way to take away your speed, so I'll do the next best thing. You're a freak, a menace to this world as long as you can run, so I'll take away what you need to run." He remembered how it felt getting the world torn away from him. He remembered what it felt like to not be able to see anymore.

He swept Cass off her feet and punched Tim in the jaw. Maybe, maybe they really did want to get rid of him. Maybe they realized that he wasn't really worth anything, that he truly was just trash to be thrown out so it didn't clutter up a home. Was it true, though? Did they really hate him? He had asked Robin that when he was fighting him, but the older boy had merely cackled in response. Was he not worth even explaining themselves to?

He heard Cass stand back up and felt the small vibrations in the ground as she ran towards him. He dodged out of her way just in time to run into someone's chest. Wait, whose chest did he just run into? Tim was behind Cass last time he heard him. So… then Wally smelled that faint fragrance that always told him when Damian walked into a room. It was Damian who had his arms pinned to his sides and a forearm braced against his neck, choking him. Wally bucked and thrashed, trying to breathe, but it wasn't working. He could hear it when Damian laughed, his chest rumbling. Damian was laughing. Damian was happy. He was happy that he was beating up his youngest brother, breaking the ribs on the other side of Wally's chest. He was happy that he was holding Wally down while Tim and Cass took turns smashing their fists into Wally's chest and arms and legs and face.

Anger flowed through the speedster and he sped up his molecules (not enough to go through Nightwing, but just enough to burn the hands holding him). Damian jerked his hands away and Wally took the time to punch Tim and Cass with everything he had, feeling the bone of their nose crunch beneath his fingers. He quickly grabbed one of each of their arms and dragged them away from where Damian was at super speed. He probably dislocated their arms, but he didn't care at the moment. This had become a fight for survival and he didn't care how much he hurt them or how much pain they'd be in when they woke up (their steadied breathing and slowing heart rate informed him that they were unconscious). He yanked their arms behind their back and handcuffed them. He was glad that Batman always preached preparedness because otherwise he wouldn't have these handcuffs that were impossible to pick (at least, the Bat Clan hadn't figured out how to do it yet).

Just as he started paying attention to his surroundings again, the anger flowing away to be replaced by fear, someone grabbed his arm. He recognized Damian's scent and heartbeat and he started vibrating his molecules again, but Damian didn't seem to care. He wrenched Wally's arm back, farther than it was meant to go. Wally thought he was about to puke when he heard the snap that indicated that his eldest brother had just broken one of his arms. Wally wished Barry was here. He wished his uncle would come and save him from the people hurting him. He wanted to curl into their really soft couch and eat his aunt's cooking and be happy and safe and warm and not here. Not here where his own family felt the need to bruise him and cut him and break him. Not here where he wasn't even sure where anything was because his echolocation device was broken. Not here where the Wayne family was. He didn't think he ever wanted to be where the Wayne family was ever again. He didn't think he could handle it.

Then Damian smashed a fist into Wally's broken arm and it took everything Wally had to not black out right there. He ended up pulling his brother's legs out from beneath him and he knocked the back of his head against his brother's forehead. It rattled his brains a little bit and kicked into existence a headache of wicked proportions, but he didn't care because he heard Nightwing crumple to the ground behind him. He groggily grabbed his brother's wrists and handcuffed him, pushing him with one arm out of his way. Then he stood to face his last opponent. Batman.

Most of his ribs were broken or at least cracked. His arm had definitely snapped and his ankle was twisted to the point that he could barely hold his own weight with it. He could feel bruises contorting his face, a broken nose adding a tilted effect to his countenance. His suit was torn and he could smell the dirt stuck to it with blood. Warm liquid flowed from cuts all along his torso and legs. He was exhausted and his cane was broken. He wasn't sure where his dulo-dulo had fallen during the fights. He had used other various gadgets from his pack and was running low on energy, especially after his fight with not only Piper and Boomerang, but also his father. A concussion melded the sounds he heard together until it was hard to pick one thing out from the next. There was no way he would survive going against Batman. There was no way Bruce would let him out of there alive.

Wally didn't care, though. His adopted family didn't want him and they were willing to kill him to get him out of the way. That didn't mean that Uncle Barry and Aunt Iris didn't want him, though. He still had a chance of love from them. So he would fight. He'd keep fighting and he would do his best to win against Batman even in the shape he's in. He'd do it for Barry and Iris. He'd do it for Roy and Dinah and Ollie and Hal. He'd survive so he could finally man up and ask Artemis on a date.

So when Batman took his first swing at his youngest son, Wally was ready. He ducked under it, glancing a lucky shot off of Batman's ribs. He flipped away, landing messily because he had a twisted ankle and broken arm and neither of those things helped when you were trying to do a back flip. He stumbled backwards and held one arm up at the ready to block any shots that might be made. He ran circles around Batman, tripping slightly at one point, which allowed the older hero to throw a batarang at him. He missed Wally's head (which the ginger hero's mental trajectory analysis showed him Batman was aiming at), but it dug into his shoulder instead, hitting the opposite arm of his broken one. Well, that made punching Batman a little harder. What else could he do, though? He had to brave through the pain in both arms to do this. He had to keep breathing past the panic attack that was about to drown out his thinking. Wait. Breathing. He knew what to do!

Even though it was agony on his ankle, Wally starting running a continuous circle around Bruce, listening as the wind grew stronger and stronger around the man. This should suck all of the air out of the area around Batman, causing him to lose consciousness where Wally could then cuff him.

Then Wally's mouth dropped and he stuttered in his running. He could hear the sound of Batman's breathing tool. It was the same one he himself had used earlier to breathe through the smoke. Now Batman was using it to breathe even in the tunnel of no air he had created. Wally figured that if he kept running, maybe he could build the whirlwind to a strong enough level that the breathing device would be ripped out of Batman's mouth and then his plan would work.

His brief stutter in his running had cost him, though. He needed to work back up to his former speed and he hadn't quite gotten fast enough when Batman's fist caught him in the side of the head. Due to the force of the blow and the speed at which he had been running, he was thrown several yards to the side, landing painfully on his broken arm and ribs.

With the breath knocked out of him and pain paralyzing his body, Wally knew that he was done for. There was no way he could get out of this one. Well, he had certainly given it his all. He hoped he didn't upset Uncle Barry and Aunt Iris too much with his death. He hoped that no one would get hung up on his death. As the sounds and smells of the world started to fade into blissful silence, Wally heard one last thing. He heard the wind warping around something running at super speed. Uncle Barry.

BBBBBB

Barry was worried. There was something about what Hartley and Digger had said that just raised the hairs on his neck and made him feel like something bad was going to happen. He had called the Wayne manor the second Wally should have gotten home, but there wasn't an answer. That was weird. It wasn't all that strange that Bruce and the kids would be out of the house because they did, in fact, have lives, but the fact that Alfred didn't answer was weird. He always answered.

That was why Barry was currently barreling down Wally's chosen path home, keeping a sharp eye out for signs of his nephew. He was about halfway through the path when he found it. And when he did, his blood ran cold.

It was like a scene out of some horror movie. There was a giant, hulking, thing with its arms cuffed behind its back splayed out on the ground. Sprawled all across the field they were in was the Bat Clan. He saw Robin and Red Hood cuffed near each other, blood seeping from wounds in their arms. He saw Tim and Cass far off with their faces flat on the ground, hands cuffed behind their backs. Nightwing was lying with his hands cuffed and a broken nose. And then, towards the middle of the field, there was Batman, standing over Wally.

Now, contrary to popular belief, Barry didn't always go running into things without pausing to understand the situation. He actually did pause and survey everything (most of the time) before jumping in. It's just that he surveys the scene really fast because super speed and all. So Barry took a second longer to get all the facts before running in. Bruce was staring down at Wally. Bruce looked like he had just been in the middle of a tornado and Barry could see the marks where someone had run very fast circles. Wally was curled up on the ground, one arm (covered in blood from multiple lacerations and a gaping hole near the shoulder) was curled protectively against his torso. The other arm was lying uselessly, obviously broken. His pale skin was dark with bruises and cuts and blood from a broken nose. His ankle was swelling and cuts marred the rest of his suit. Barry caught sight of the remains of his dragon cane off to the side. He quickly looked at the other heroes. Each of them had bloodied fists like they had been punching someone. Wait. No way. The bruises on Wally's face were obviously caused by being punched. The Bat Clan had been punching something. The… thing didn't look like it had punched anything. Was the Bat Clan attacking Wally?

Barry turned back to Bruce once more and noticed something odd. The man's face was completely blank. He didn't look happy or sad or angry or anything. It didn't even seem like he was in touch with the situation at all. Oh… oh! That would explain everything. The Bat Clan was probably under mind control. Barry winced internally as he realized that there was no way Wally would have been able to come to that conclusion because he couldn't see his family's faces to know that they weren't all there. That was going to be awful later, but right now he couldn't worry about that. He'd just have to take Batman out (and it suddenly occurred to him that Wally must have had to take out Robin and Red Hood and Batwoman and Red Robin and Nightwing all by himself) and get Wally somewhere he could heal physically first.

So, without further ado, Barry launched himself at Bruce, fist out. Batman didn't have a chance to react before there was a fist smashing into his cheek. Barry allowed himself a moment to feel guilty before it was washed away by the rage that came from knowing that someone hurt his nephew, his family. He watched as his friend collapsed to the ground and he gently grabbed the handcuffs from the man's utility belt (he was somewhat surprised that the belt didn't, like, bite him or something; one never knew with those Bats) and cuffing him like he supposed Wally had done. Then he knelt down next to his nephew, turning him over gently and cradling the teen in his lap.

Before he could do anything, however, six identical groans sounded out. Barry's head whipped up and he stared as the entire Bat Clan woke up at the same time. Robin and Red Hood groaned again as they jostled their shoulders. Damian hissed as feeling came back and his broken nose made itself known. Tim and Cass helped each other sit up, sporting ugly bruises and hindered by the hand cuffs. Batman brought himself into a sitting position silently. Barry didn't say anything as the Bat Clan worked themselves to their feet (which was quite impressive given their injuries and their hands still being cuffed behind them) and over to where Batman had managed to stand.

"What's going on?" Robin groaned, his shoulder still oozing blood gently.

"You don't remember?" Barry questioned. He knew that he probably interrupted Batman, but that didn't really matter at the moment because Batman had been about to hurt his nephew and Barry wanted answers.

Apparently no one else cared about answering him because Robin cried out shrilly, "What happened to Swift?"

The former acrobat moved to crouch next to Wally, but Barry scooted away, mindful of the blind teen's injuries. He hissed out, "You happened to Swift. I got here just in time to stop Batman from starting in on beating him up. From the look on his face and the fact that you all managed to wake up at the same time, I'm going to assume mind control. This is a very nice assumption and an easy way out for you. You better pray that it was mind control that lead you to do this and not something else because I will not hold back if I find out that you hurt him willingly." Barry didn't care that they all had stricken looks on their faces, or that some of the younger ones actually rocked back, away from him, in fear. He just wanted answers and no one was answering him.

Before any of the former sidekicks could speak, Batman announced in his gravelly voice, "I will call Doctor Mid-Nite and inform him that he should meet Flash and Swift in the infirmary in the Watchtower. The rest of us will wait here until authorities come to pick up… that thing. Then we will stay in the Bat Cave until Flash calls us with news. If we remember anything, we'll call you." He directed the last statement to Flash and Barry nodded before taking his nephew in a more secure hold. The nearest zeta beam was the one in Detroit which wasn't far away at all, so it would probably be safe to run Wally there without worrying about aggravating his copious injuries too much.

As he was about to run off, Flash called over his shoulder, "Get Martian Manhunter to check you over and see if there were any outside influences. I want him reporting straight to me afterwards. Make sure he doesn't tell anyone else what he finds out. I don't want Swift to wake up and find out that suddenly everyone knows about this." It was a risk swearing them to secrecy because they might keep it quiet or not. He still wasn't certain that they were under mind control. It made the most sense, of course, because they loved Wally with all of their hearts and it would hurt them to hurt him. And yet, here was Wally, broken and bleeding, in his arms as he ran towards Detroit and, eventually, to the Watchtower.

DDDDDD

Damian wanted Colin. He wanted his fiancé to be here with him so he had someone to talk to and to be comforted by because his world was crumbling around him. The memories had come back. He remembered everything up until the point Wally crashed the back of his head into Damian's nose and Bruce had filled them in on the rest. They were all waiting for Martian Manhunter to show up and tell them that they were under mind control because they had to have been under mind control. There was no way they would have hurt their youngest without being under mind control. Damian's hands shook as he remembered snapping Wally's arm and holding an arm to his throat so he couldn't breathe. He did this to his little brother. He wanted to go train, to go somewhere other than where he was right then with all of his siblings and his father sitting around with morose expressions on their faces and an oppressive silence stifling them all. This was so much worse than that first night at Wayne manor when he had told Father that he shouldn't have adopted Wally. This was so much worse than finding him after the Joker had gotten a hold of him. Because this time, this time it was their fault.

Before Damian could wallow any further down that road of self loathing, Martian Manhunter appeared from the zeta beam that Bruce had installed in the Bat Cave. J'onn stumbled a little bit as he was walking in, probably feeling all of the guilt and anger and sadness that was bottled up in the Wayne family. Batman rose to greet him, saying, "J'onn. Thank you for coming here on such short notice. I wouldn't have called you here if it wasn't important." The Martian waved for him to continue and Batman did, "I want you to look through our minds and see if you can find evidence of tampering there. Is there a chance that we were being mind controlled any time recently?"

The Martian nodded and put his fingers to his temples, focusing briefly on each of the heroes before moving on to the next. Finally, J'onn lowered his hands and looked at them all, "There was something in your minds that was activated earlier. It bears the markings of Psimon. It has been in your mind for quite some time, but either myself or M'gann should have sensed it before now. Have you been feeling tired or stressed lately?"

Batman nodded hesitantly, "Yes, both." Damian grimaced to himself. They were all exhausted from waking up to Wally's nightmares practically every night and between his father going missing and his mother constantly ignoring the law and continuing to fight for her son and all the reporters massing around them every time they left the grounds, they were all stressed.

"Wait, Psimon is catatonic right now! He's currently being treated by doctors." Robin protested from his perch.

Batman said, "We'll deal with that later. Please continue J'onn."

Martian Manhunter explained that the nature of the thing hidden in their minds was that it was designed to be masked by tiredness and stress and could be activated at any time at any distance. He cautioned the possibility that Swift's nightmares and his parents reentering his life could have been planned so the mind control device would work properly.

Father nodded to the Martian and asked him to relay all of that information to Flash up in the Watchtower. Ten minutes later, they received a call from the scarlet speedster.

Batman put it on speaker and said, "Is he alright, Flash?"

"Doctor Mid-Nite said he'll be fine in a couple of weeks. It's recommended that he get about a week or so of bed rest and that he be off active duty for at least a month or two." Flash responded almost slowly. It was obvious he was feeling fatigued.

"What about his injuries?" Drake asked hesitantly. It was obvious that he was warring within himself about if he really wanted to know or not.

Flash sighed before saying, "J'onn told me about the mind control thing, so I'm sorry for snapping at you guys earlier. This… this isn't your fault and we'll find the ones responsible." Damian could practically see Barry rubbing a hand against the back of his neck.

"How about his actual injuries, Flash?" Todd demanded, practically snarling.

Flash's sigh was much deeper before he started listing off, "Broken arm. Thirteen broken ribs. Two cracked ribs. Twisted ankle. Multiple lacerations across his entire body. Deep bruising across his entire body with some spots bruised down to the bone. A large cut on his shoulder from a batarang. Broken nose. And he was low on fuel, practically running on fumes. I think between battling you guys, battling whatever the heck that other thing was, and the original fight he had with the Rogues just before really wore down on his energy supply." There was a pause and when Flash spoke again, Damian could hear the frown in his voice, "I think the Rogues have something to do with this. They were really quiet and acted weird when we arrested them earlier today and they even warned Swift to be safe. I'm willing to bet someone in Belle Reeve was threatening Pied Piper and Captain Boomerang, probably saying that they'd kill Cold, Trickster, Mirror Master, Weather Wizard, and Heatwave."

Damian ignored his own guilt and worry in favor of asking, "Who has the resources to threaten them and make it believable? Plus, whoever it is had to find a way to get the mind control set up and give Wally nightmares and they have to be influential enough to get Mary West out of prison and set up with enough money to keep calling all these court appeals. They also had to help Rudolph West break out of prison. Who has the resources to do that?"

"We'll look into it." Batman announced, "Thank you Flash. Please let us know when Wally wakes up."

"Um," Flash started, "I'll let you know, but I don't recommend coming up to the Watchtower to see him."

"Why not?" Dick cried.

"Think about it. I didn't know for certain that you were under mind control and I could see Bruce's face and see the blank look he was giving the world. All Wally knows is that you attacked him. That's all he knows. He had no idea that you guys were under mind control and I'm not sure that telling him will help. I think it might be better if he stays with Iris and I for a while." Flash responded hesitantly. Damian rocked back into his seat. He hadn't thought of that. Oh gods, they had hurt their brother and he probably doesn't know why.

Distantly Damian heard Father say, "Of course. You can send someone to pick up his things and when he's able to go back to school, you can get him there by zeta beam. Thank you for everything Barry. If… if you hadn't been there, I don't… I don't know if Wally would still be with us." It obviously hurt him to say and it hurt all of his children to hear it, but it was true. They owed Barry everything.

Barry's voice was sad when he answered, "It's not your fault. Just… don't beat yourselves up about it because it'll all work out in the end. I've gotta go, Iris is calling. Goodbye." He disconnected and the others sat there in silence.

Damian was still devastated and he was worried that they weren't ever going to be able to bring their family back together, but for the moment, just that moment, it didn't matter. It didn't matter because Wally was in good hands and they had someone to track down and beat the answers they wanted out of.

Psimon.


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wally has nightmares and meets Jinx who was just thrown into this story because.

WWWWWW

"What's wrong?" His voice finally cooperated and he glanced at his parents, desperately trying to understand.

"What's wrong?" His father's voice increased to a shout by the end of the question. He continued, "I'll tell you what's wrong you little brat! All that worry you caused us during your time in the hospital, all that money we had to spend to keep you in a room there, was for nothing! It was for worse than nothing! You… have… super speed! You're one of those freaks now! One of those… metahumans!" He spat the last word, spittle flying into little Wally's face as one meaty hand tangled in the young boy's collar. Wally didn't understand what was going on.

Wally just trembled in his father's grip, large green eyes desperately fighting back tears as his father continued to bellow about how Wally was a 'freak' and a 'pathetic excuse for a son' and 'not worth the gum on the bottom of his shoe'. 

Suddenly, his father's voice changed, becoming smoother and a little deeper, but still tinged with uncontrollable anger. Bruce. Bruce continued to yell at Wally, shaking him in his fists, screaming about how 'foolish' he was and how he was 'a waste of space' and a 'pathetic excuse for a hero' and 'not worth the time it took to adopt him', even going so far as to sneer 'the world would be better off if we had managed to kill you in that field'.

The young boy's eyes spilled over with tears and he looked up at Bruce, seeing a pattern of bumps and correlated to a shape of a man. That was as much as Wally knew about his adopted father's appearance. Then, bumps in the shape of eyes moved to a healing mark on Wally's cheeks and what passed for lips curled in disgust. He threw his adopted son on the floor and snarled a quick, "Stay there," before leaving for the kitchen. Then, it was the raised bumps form of Cass still standing on the other side of the room, hand against her beating heart, no sympathy in her eyes for her adopted brother. A minute later and Bruce was walking back into the room, a kitchen knife held in one hand. He straddled his adopted son and forced his shirt up. Seven years worth of abuse stood stark against the boy's pale skin and Bruce simply grinned at his predecessor's handiwork.

Then, Bruce pushed the tip of the knife into Wally's chest and the boy's breath stuttered in surprise. 

Black mist enveloped everything and suddenly Wally was chained to the wall and the floor in Joker's lair. He couldn't see anymore, but he could hear the Joker's heartbeat pounding in the silence of the room. The man laughed, but suddenly it wasn't the Joker laugh that struck fear into civilians everywhere; instead, it was the signature cackle that struck fear into villains everywhere. Robin. Robin was here, but where was Joker? Was Robin here to rescue him?

Then a crowbar was landing on his side, his arm, his leg, his cheek, his stomach, his side again. Robin was cackling with mad glee and continuing to slam the device into his adopted brother. Wally whimpered and Dick crouched down next to him, his heartbeat morphing and his breathing pattern changing until it was Jason crouching next to him, running a switchblade across Wally cheek, muttering, "You are such a worthless piece of trash. I can't believe Bruce ever thought it was a good idea to adopt you. Well, he did get quite a lot of good press from that and it helped dispel any theories that the Waynes were the Bats, so he had reason to adopt you. Unfortunately, your usefulness has run out. That's why we tried to kill you, you know. None of us actually care about you." He scoffed and spat, "You're a monster."

Wally shot up in bed, gasping for breath. His sudden increase in elevation caused his head to pound and his chest to ache and he coughed which only led to more pain in his chest and pain in his face as his muscles moved, jostling his healing nose.

He didn't have to worry about someone overhearing him as he sobbed quietly into the blankets piled on top of him. After a week of Iris and Barry missing work for him, he finally convinced them to go in. He had slept for… four hours since Iris left at seven o'clock to get to work. Well, that was actually an achievement for him. Ever since that day when… when all that stuff happened, Wally had been woken up by nightmares where every injury (both physical and mental) that he'd ever received was suddenly coming from one of his siblings, or his adopted brother. Barry had told him about everything that Psimon had done and had kept him updated on his family's investigation where they learned that Lex Luthor visited his father before he was broken out and Jade, Artemis's sister and more commonly known as Cheshire, had visited his mother. Apparently Queen Bee had been sending in her most trusted lawyers to make sure that Mary West's court appeals were very public and very influential and very biased. It was discovered that the man who Wally fought against in that field actually was his father and he did have super strength, telekinesis, and magic, but apparently he died a few days after his arrest. They were able to tell that it was the Brain's meddling that gave him all the powers in the first place. Further research in the form of Barry zipping over to Belle Reeve told him that Ra's al Ghul was threatening the rest of the Rogues, saying that the two who were free (Hartley and Digger) had to fight a prolonged battle with Swift so he'd be tired out when he real battle began. Wally had no idea what he had done to garner the attention of Psimon, Let Luthor, Cheshire, Queen Bee, the Brain, and Ra's al Ghul. It seemed like they were working together too. Since when was that a thing and how many more were there working with them?

Wally sighed and aggressively ran a hand through his hair, his sobs finally under control as stress seized him instead. Enough, he thought viciously to himself; there had been too much wallowing in self pity around the house for too long. Barry had been beating himself up over the fact that he should have ran Wally home and how he should have made sure that he was okay, or found out more from the Rogues before they were taken to prison. Wally was beating himself up over the fact that he still couldn't stand the thought of going home. It shouldn't be this difficult! He knew that they had been under mind control. Uncle B would never lie to him about something like that. And yet… and yet here he was, still at Aunt I and Uncle B's house, confined to the bed in what was considered his room of the house. Even though Dinah had been coming to talk to him about it (he was horribly embarrassed that so many people knew about what had happened; he couldn't even protect himself from his own family he was that useless), it still didn't change the fact that every time he so much as thought about Jason's heartbeat or Dick's footsteps or Damian's unique scent he broke out in a cold sweat and went into survival mode, the urge to leap behind something, to find cover, almost overwhelming.

He was being so stupid! His family would never willingly hurt him! And he knew that, but his subconscious didn't seem to understand it and it sent him into a panic.

Wally shook his head, regretting it when his nose flared painfully. He needed to get out. He needed to go find somewhere peaceful where he could think and go over everything that had happened without worrying that Barry or Iris or Dinah or Doctor Mid-Nite or J'onn were going to burst in to check on him or something. He needed to go somewhere where he wasn't trapped in a small room that he couldn't run in.

It only took him a few seconds longer than usual to change into his costume (helpfully mended by Uncle Len who felt bad for being a partial cause of his injuries; who would have known the man was so good with needlework) and then he scribbled a note just in case he didn't come home as soon as he thought he was going to (hoping that his blind scribbling looked like actual letters since he hadn't written anything in a while). Soon after, he was out the door, a blur of gray racing through the streets.

He left Central behind and headed to the west coast; anything to get him away from the direction of Wayne manor. He ended up stopping in San Francisco near where he remembered the Teen Titans tower was. He remembered Tim bringing him here once. For some reason, that thought didn't bother him nearly as much as it should have. Maybe it was the fact that he knew Tim was on the other side of the continent and couldn't bother him. Maybe it was because he was getting better. He didn't know, but he also didn't care. Anything that meant he would be reunited with his family soon would be good.

Just then, he heard the sound of a door breaking nearby. Zipping over to where he heard the noise and comparing it with his mental map of San Francisco, he figured that he was in front of a museum that had (according to the news the other day) temporarily closed down because of damages caused by super fighting.

He heard the sound of someone walking inside and zipped in himself, using his Bat training to be completely silent. He leaned up against a pillar as he heard someone (female by the sound of the steps) walking up some stairs towards what was probably a pedestal of some sort. He heard buzzing right where said person's hand should have been and quickly thought of all the female super villains with electric powers. None of the ones he had interacted with had the same step pattern or heartbeat. This was someone new to him. He heard her laugh slightly as the buzzing extended (probably reaching for whatever was on the pedestal) and realized that he recognized that laugh. All of his siblings recorded the battles they had with their villains so he could hear what the villains sounded like and would be able to identify them in a fight even if he'd never interacted with them before. This was Jinx!

He settled his customary smile/smirk on his face and asked, "Need a little luck?"

He heard her gasp and felt the wind as she turned around suddenly, the buzzing gone. She recovered quickly and retorted, "It's only a myth! Who are you?"

Only a myth? Oh, apparently the thing she was going for had something to do with becoming lucky. He totally hadn't meant that when he asked the question. Happy coincidence, apparently. He ran at super speed over to another pedestal and leaned on that, all the while saying, "Swift. Fastest teen alive." He gave her the smug expression that annoyed a lot of criminals to no end.

"Are you supposed to be a good guy or something?" Jinx asked disdainfully. Wally wanted to know what she looked like. Apparently she was quite beautiful, but he could only get her shape from his recently fixed echolocation device.

"One of the best." He pretended to inspect his nails despite the fact that, a, he was blind and therefore couldn't even see his hand and, b, he had a glove on anyways, so it didn't really matter.

He could feel her stance get defensive, her heartbeat fluttering, but her voice was still carefree as she asked, "Well, aren't you going to take me to jail?" It almost sounded like she was mocking him.

Wally thought about her question for a nanosecond. Was he going to take her to jail? She technically hadn't stolen anything yet and he didn't see any property damage (he ignored the part of his brain that told him it was a weak argument because he couldn't even see the property). He shrugged and walked towards where she was, saying, "I thought maybe I'd get to know you first." This girl, Jinx, intrigued him. Here she was, all alone and a teen like him to boot and she maintained such calm in the face of justice. Maybe she thought she could beat him. She huffed and he could practically imagine her rolling her eyes and crossing her arms. Why did it feel like he'd known her forever? He shrugged to himself and asked, "What's a girl like you doing in a place like this? A gig like this is only going to hold you back in the criminal world and it isn't going to do you any favors with anyone else."

"I know! That's what I keep telling-," she cut herself off and he could imagine her glaring at him. He had to hold back a soft smile. She muttered angrily, "What do you know?" What did he know? He didn't know her and he wasn't too certain on her criminal standings, but apparently he had hit the nail on the head. She felt like she was useless in whatever group she was in, but she was staying for some reason, probably a friend. Or maybe she didn't have anywhere else to go.

"I know that you're too smart for all of this." And he did know that. He could tell that she was desperate for someone to acknowledge her for her strengths in the criminal underworld. She just wanted to be loved. It reminded him of himself for a moment.

Then she retorted, "Oh, is the part where you try and convert me, make me see the error of my ways?" Wally could hear the wind rushing around her arms as she lifted them and lowered them again. She continued, "You're wasting your time."

His response was automatic, "When you're as fast as me, time is something you've got plenty of!" He pointed to himself and then zipped away, coming back an instant later with a beret and a croissant from a quaint little French store a couple cities over. He could imagine the look of surprise on her face. He was surprised himself. He didn't know why he was doing this.

She turned around and walked away from him, her footsteps gentle, "It's too late for me anyways."

Swift answered emphatically, "It's never too late."

"What about the HIVE five? They'd come after me." She asked delicately. The what? He had no idea who they were and made a mental note to ask someone later.

"Let others worry about them." He'd say that he'd worry about them, but he had enough of his own problems and, well, he still didn't quite know who they were.

Her voice raised in pitch a little as she asked, "Where will I go? What will I do?" Was she really considering this? Was he really convincing her? He hoped so. For some reason, he felt that she would be a great hero.

"Trust me." He said simply, holding out his hand for her to grab. She had to say yes.

He felt the weight of her hand barely brushing against his before she pulled it away and her voice grew cold again, "On second thought, nah!" Then the buzzing started up again and something hit Wally, sending him careening to the ground. That was unpleasant. He was also pretty sure that he just put a couple of his injuries back a week in healing and that Doctor Mid-Nite was going to kill him because of it. He yelled out in pain as he hit the ground, wincing and trying to push himself up, only to find that he was using his broken arm and that really hurt. With the dangerously low amount of energy he'd ended up with after the fight, he was told that all of his injuries would heal much slower than usual. That meant that his ribs and his arm were still broken and his other shoulder was still sore from the batarang wound.

Wally let himself fall to the tiled floor again, panting, before trying to push himself up with the other arm, wincing as he did so, but his ribs were not having it. They creaked and groaned at him and he ended up only going into a sitting position, leaning against a conveniently placed pedestal. He heard Jinx pause in her movements and imagined that she was staring at him, "Did I break your arm?" She sounded almost nervous.

"Nah, I got into a fight with a bunch of people who were supposed to be friends, practically family. They broke my arm and a lot of my ribs. I got a wound in my shoulder too, but the rest of my injuries are gone. The injuries I still have are pretty much healed, but not quite enough to get in a fight." He gave a small, self-deprecating laugh and winced as his ribs hurt again.

"What'd you get in a fight about?" She sounded genuinely curious, but her heartbeat fluttered a little bit, like she was nervous. Her footsteps indicated that she was getting closer to him.

He shrugged and said, "We didn't really get into a fight about anything. They were under mind control. Not that I knew it at the time." He had no idea why he was telling her this. Maybe because it helped to talk to a stranger who didn't know any of them. Maybe it helped talking to someone who knew the struggles of a super world.

She snorted softly and said, "That's some serious bad luck." He felt her sit down across from him, her back sliding down something that sounded like granite; probably another pedestal.

"Tell me about it. I didn't wake up until two days after the fight and I felt awful. Still do actually." He leaned his head back against the granite surface with a thunk.

He could practically hear the raised eyebrow in her voice, "Then why are you attempting to stop a robbery? Shouldn't you be resting or something?"

"I needed to get out and run. I needed to think everything over." He muttered.

"What is there to think about? You got beaten up by people who were under mind control. They're not mind controlled anymore and you're almost healed." She scoffed in response.

"But I'm still scared of them." He answered earnestly and he realized it was true. He was terrified of ever having to go near them again.

Jinx paused and her voice was softer when she answered, "Then stay away from them. Just don't go near them and you'll be fine. Eventually, the fear will wash away and you'll realize that there wasn't really a good reason to be afraid in the first place."

"You speak like you're talking from experience." Wally commented. She gave a noncommittal grunt in response and he pondered over her answer. He realistically could stay with Uncle B and Aunt I until school was over because he knew they'd let him and there was only, like, a month left anyways. Then he'd be in college and he was already planning on enrolling a college in Metropolis because they worked really closely with STAR labs at that college, so he'd have a ton of chances to work with the labs while he was there. But… there was still one thing. Wally spoke slowly, "I'm on a team with one of them, though. And I got this whole suit, this whole idea of Swift from them. It's like… every time I put on the suit, every time I work with the team, I can remember them hurting me and laughing. And I can't give up being a superhero either."

"Then quit whatever team you're talking about and switch out your suit for something else. It can even be something similar like, I don't know, Falcon or something like that. Don't stop being a superhero, just mold yourself into a new superhero." Jinx said it in a tone that conveyed the fact that she thought he was being melodramatic and stupid because she believed the answer was obvious. And it was. It really was that simple. He'd become a new hero, simply associated with Central City instead of Swift who was associated with Central and Gotham. He'd quit the Team, just for a little bit, until he could start interacting with them again. He would talk to Artemis somewhere else and ask her on that date (although that proved to be problematic because he wasn't entirely certain where they would have the date that wouldn't look at him strangely for still being in his suit).

He smiled and told Jinx brightly, "Thanks, that actually helped a lot. You know, that advice could go right back at you. Remake yourself. You don't have to become a hero or anything, but make yourself into a super villain you can be proud of. If you think HIVE five is holding you back, then leave them and start fresh, somewhere where you're appreciated because you definitely deserve to be appreciated. Anyways, I better head home right about now. I think I've been gone long enough. So, do I have to arrest you, or will you leave this poor museum alone and start changing yourself into a new, better villain?"

Wally started painfully making his way into a standing position when footsteps came in his direction and soft hands were gently pulling him up, steadying him when he swayed. He smiled brightly in her direction again and could imagine her smiling back. Her voice was quiet when she answered, "I don't think you'll have to worry about this museum. Goodbye Swift."

"It's Falcon now, actually. Well, I think it will be at least." He heard her huff out a laugh and he smiled, "Goodbye Jinx." And with that, he ran home. He had something he wanted to talk to Uncle Barry about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was trying to follow what happens in a certain scene where Jinx and Wally interact in an episode of Teen Titans, but since I haven't seen that in a while and was going based off of what I saw on YouTube, so I'm sorry if anything's wrong. I was trying to make it so it fit the story line even if it didn't fit the Teen Titans story line.


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Team comes back together (including Wally) and everything starts to go down the drain before Wally kisses Artemis.

WWWWWW

Wally was doing a lot better. He'd decided on a college in Palo Alto instead of his original choice in Metropolis (Uncle Clark was devastated, but Wally promised to visit as often as he could) and he had already made his debut as Falcon. It had only taken him a week after his talk with Jinx to finish the new outfit and he fought the Rogues with it on the same day he finished it. They were happy that he was finally starting to be happy, but that didn't stop him from sending the couple that he caught to jail. Also, he was having way less nightmares than before. Oracle had, of course, found out about it and had apparently scolded the Bat Clan thoroughly before coming to Central and comforting Wally (Aunt Iris had cooed at them and Wally had been mortified).

He still hadn't returned to the Team or figured out a way to ask Artemis on a date and he still hadn't gone home, choosing instead to zeta to school and stay with his aunt and uncle. He had, however, managed a phone call to his family. He thought it had something to do with shedding the title of Swift and recreating himself like Jinx recommended. He and his family hadn't talked about anything substantial, just the little things that didn't really matter. Well, they talked about the little things after he convinced them to stop saying sorry to him. He had spoken with them one at a time because more than one would have freaked him out too much.

His knees still felt weak every time they talked; even over the phone and he always had to have Uncle Barry near him when he made the calls, just to reassure himself. But, his injuries had almost healed and he was feeling less and less freaked out every time they called and he was feeling more and more confident that he could return to them soon. It was a good feeling.

Just then, Barry waltzed downstairs with his ring on one hand and said, "Up you go, time for patrol." Wally groaned good naturedly and they set out of the house and into a different neighborhood, eventually walking to an alleyway closer to the city. They never changed in the house because, well, someone would notice the red and gray blurs that left the Allen household just before Flash and Swift were seen in the city. Well, it wasn't red and gray anymore. Wally's suit was pretty similar to before, but he'd lost the cape, choosing instead to focus on a form fitting suit that wouldn't hold back his running in the slightest.

His suit had tough shoulder pads to deal with the amount of times he barreled into people and it had small compartments on his arms that held all of the things he'd formerly kept in his utility belt (he still had a utility belt on him at all times because that just wasn't a habit he could shake easily). The top half of his suit was a brownish tan and the bottom half was a dark brown. The dark brown color also appeared at his elbows and gloves and he'd even changed his goggles to a dark brown. His boots (an updated version that Flash had recently gotten that was so very comfortable) were the brownish tan that made up the top half of his suit. He replaced the wings over his ears with dark brown lightning bolts and in the center of his chest was a dark brown circle containing a dark brown lightning bolt and shimmery, barely visible outline of a falcon. He was just as proud of this suit as he was of his old one. He didn't think he'd ever be able to get rid of the rings scattered across his room with his Swift suit in it. He actually had a Swift ring in one of the compartments of his new Falcon suit.

Wally was jarred out of his musings as they reached the alleyway and Uncle Barry spun into his Flash suit. It wasn't long before Wally followed him and then Flash and Falcon grinned at each other before setting off on their patrol.

VVVVVV

Vandal Savage spoke to Klarion as they watched Red Arrow placing the Starro tech on each of the heroes gathered in the Watchtower. It was finally time to implement their plan. Flash had continued to be distracted as time went on, still thinking about his precious nephew. Swift, or Falcon as he had come to be known, had yet to return to the Team. Batman's usual paranoia, which had caused a lot of trouble over time, was dulled due to the worry he felt for his youngest. The rest of the Bat Clan (excluding Robin) were spread to the four corners of the Earth attempting to find Psimon, who was currently hidden where no one would ever find him. This was the opportunity they had been waiting for! This was their chance to finally get what they wanted now that so many of the unknown variables were out of the way. The Light would prevail.

AAAAAA

They were all pretty proud of the work they just did in Santa Prisca. Artemis had to admit that the Team had really grown from when Swift, Robin, and Kaldur broke into Cadmus that fateful day so long ago. She'd heard the stories about it; they all had and she had always been impressed with the camaraderie they had all shown despite never having worked as a Team before.

Speaking of Swift… Artemis didn't know what was going on. She thought that they'd connected all that time ago, even going so far as to thinking that he might even ask her out by the end of the day because he seemed that genuinely happy to be helping her. Then Flash had told him that there was a Rogue attack and Batman and Robin had disappeared soon after.

A couple of days later, Robin and Batman finally showed up again. They had both looked haggard and worn down (at least, Artemis was pretty sure they did; it was hard to tell with the cowl and the mask) and Robin's arm was in a sling that he explained was to keep him from jostling the bullet wound he had. He neglected to mention where he got the wound from. They had gathered the entire Team to the main room, including Red Tornado, Black Canary, and Captain Marvel, their den mothers. Batman had announced in his emotionless, gravelly voice that Swift had quit the Team indefinitely. The reactions were instantaneous. Everyone was angry and clamoring to be heard. They couldn't keep going without Swift! He was their linchpin; he was one of the founding members of the Team; he was their friend.

Any pleas and any demands for a reason were ignored and Batman left soon after, leaving a quiet and shrunken Robin behind. Robin wouldn't answer their questions either and just said that it was Swift's business and Swift's decision. For a couple of weeks after the incident, Robin hadn't been his usual… asterous self. He was so much more serious and any moment he didn't have to be at the Mountain for training or missions, he wasn't there, choosing instead to go wherever it was he went. It was disconcerting to say the least. It was also somewhat heartbreaking to see how much Swift's departure hurt Robin. It was obvious something else was going on, but none of the rest of the Team could figure it out and soon enough, Robin started getting back to his normal self.

Then Artemis had seen the news alert when Swift changed his name to Falcon and put on an entirely different suit, fighting alongside Flash like usual. It was almost like he was cutting ties with the part of him that used to fight in Gotham. Artemis didn't understand. And Falcon didn't bother explaining it to any of them. He had sent the Flash to grab his things from his room in the Mountain (no one had bothered changing the code or declaring the room as someone else's; they would probably keep that as Falcon's room as long as they remained there) and hadn't called anyone. It broke Megan's heart and made Artemis angry. What right did Falcon have to be such a jerk?

The archer was pulled from her line of thinking when she saw Batman standing in the main room. She looked to the others, but they seemed just as confused as she was. Kaldur stepped forward and said, "You normally wait until the next day for a mission report. Has something occurred that we should know about?"

Batman nodded and said gravely, "We have discovered the mole."

"What? Who?" Robin asked, looking almost betrayed. Apparently Batman hadn't told him first.

Batman continued, "The mole is Red Arrow." He raised a hand to stop Kaldur and Robin from protesting (which they were obviously planning to do) and gave them a scowl. They shut up, but there was a look of simmering anger and disbelief in their eyes. Batman explained, "The Red Arrow you know had replaced the original Speedy three years ago, shortly after he became Green Arrow's sidekick. The Red Arrow you know is a Project Cadmus clone. The clone was programmed with a fervent drive to join the Justice League, which explains his intense anger at being denied at the Hall of Justice. Wishing to eventually gain the approval of the Justice League, he refused the Team and struck off on his own. Unaware all along that he was a clone and a traitor Red Arrow's secondary programming activated upon his induction. He betrayed the League to Vandal Savage by attempting to infect them with mind-controlling bio-nanotech chips." Artemis heard Robin's short gasp and caught the two Gothamites sharing a significant glance before Batman continued, "We do not know where the real Speedy is, but we are doing as much as we can to find him. Red Arrow is now a League member and his apprehension is a League matter, however, he felt that you should be informed of the mole's true identity. I must leave now. Please leave this to the League, kids." With that, the Dark Knight swept out of the room, through the zeta tubes.

Artemis had never really liked Red Arrow and he had certainly never liked her, but this still bothered her. She had at the very least reached a kind of truce with him after the whole Haly's circus fiasco. And now… now it turns out that he was a clone. She never really knew the real Speedy, only this clone version of him. She wondered if Speedy would have liked her.

From his spot staring out into space, Robin muttered, "How did I not notice? I knew him before he became a clone and I didn't notice. I should have… I should have known." Even though he spoke quietly, it was loud in the silent room. Artemis watched as Megan put a hand over her mouth, looking extremely upset. To be completely honest, Artemis wasn't much better. That was… that was depressing to say the least. From looking around at the other members of the Team, Artemis surmised that it was only Robin who'd known Red Arrow before he was cloned. As always, her thoughts slipped back to Falcon and she wondered if he'd known Red Arrow as long as Robin had. He'd probably be devastated by this news if he knew.

Kaldur's voice broke into the silence that had resettled around the room, "I do not care if this is a League matter or not. Red Arrow is my friend and I will search for him." Robin looked like he was about to say something, but at that exact moment, Red Tornado shut down. Everyone froze and looked to each other. What just happened?

Suddenly, Rocket darted forward and grabbed something out of the android's limp hand. She lifted it up and gasped, "This is one of the modified bio-tech chips from that briefcase we got in the Smokies! What was this doing in Tornado's hand?"

Before anyone could answer, Robin said, "What's wrong Zatanna? Are you alright?"

The teenaged magician had a hand to her temple and her eyes closed. She frowned and said, "There's a strange, mystic energy within the Cave; I think it might be what caused Red Tornado's shutdown. I sensed the same energy emanating from Batman as well."

Robin frowned and said, with a look of dawning horror, "Batman called us kids. When has he ever called us kids in the entire time we've been a Team?" The others glanced around at each other, trying to remember. Artemis knew that Batman had never called them that as long as she'd been on the Team. What was going on? This was bad; really bad.

Kaldur quelled the growing panic by saying, "Robin, Zatanna, Rocket. See if you can get Red Tornado back online. The rest of us will leave to look for Red Arrow." Everyone calmed down now that they had a clear purpose in mind and something to do.

Megan, Conner, Kaldur, and Artemis climbed onto the bioship, silence blanketing them once more. They followed Kaldur's directions to different equipment caches Red Arrow had in the major cities. After checking a few cities, Artemis finally broke the silence by saying, "This is really messed up, huh? None of this makes sense. Why did Batman call us kids? What was that strange energy coming from Red Tornado and Batman? Why did someone clone Red Arrow?"

"I am afraid that I do not have the answers you seek." Kaldur answered evenly, but Artemis could hear the underlying weariness and sadness lingering in his voice. He was obviously shaken up about this. Apparently he and Red Arrow were quite the buddies; best friends even. It wasn't quite the bond that Red Arrow, Robin, and Falcon shared where they were brothers in all but blood, but it was still quite a strong bond and he must really be feeling the betrayal.

They stopped over an apartment building in Washington DC and Kaldur walked into the building. It took a little while before he finally came back up, Red Arrow towed behind him. Superboy became defensive, muttering, "How do we know we can trust him?"

Kaldur had simply looked Superboy in the eye and said, "We can trust him." There was a terse pause and then Conner nodded. Someone decided it was a good idea to put Red Arrow next to Artemis and both of them were scooched to the farthest parts of their seats so they weren't as close to each other as they could be. Kaldur continued, "We will reconvene with the others before asking you any questions. It shouldn't take long to get back to the Mountain and then-,"

Their leader was interrupted by M'gann exclaiming, "Look! It's the Super-Cycle!" Kaldur waved for her to open a hatch in the bioship and let the others on board.

To everyone's surprise, Red Tornado was in his John Smith body and Black Canary was unconscious and bound. Kaldur leveled the others a look and said, "Explain."

It was Red Tornado who answered, "The bio-tech chips, called Starro-tech, were implanted by Red Arrow. The alien organisms, infused with nano-technology and magic, shut down the independent control of the individual and allowed Savage to reprogram the minds of the League to suit his needs. Even robotic brains like myself, mystically protected minds such as Doctor Fate, and a variety of aliens were not immune. However, the chips needed 0.16 nanoseconds to completely subvert the host, and that delay allowed me to create a failsafe sub-routine. If I tried to infect another person, as what happened earlier when I attempted to contaminate Aqualad, the sub-program would completely disconnect my power cells, shutting me down. The reason that in the body of John Smith I was not affected was because the Starro-tech was body specific. Part way through the procedure of transferring my consciousness to this body, Black Canary entered the room and attempted to stop them. They knocked her unconscious. We escaped the cave using the Super-Cycle to avoid Icon, Doctor Fate, and Captain Marvel. I instructed them to stay off the radio in case it was being tracked."

There was a pause where everyone took that in, Red Arrow staring at BC in obvious concern. Then Kaldur commanded, "Now it's your turn Red Arrow."

The older archer nodded seriously and explained, "I was a sleeper agent, programmed by Cadmus to infiltrate the League. Sportsmaster was my handler and he used the key phrase 'Broken Arrow' to bring me to a hypnotic state. While in that state, he could retrieve secrets from me, or install further instructions in my subconscious. I would carry out these instructions, completely unaware of what I was doing. Part of these instructions might have been to cast suspicion on Superboy, Miss Martian, and Artemis as mole suspects." He wasn't exactly apologizing, but Artemis could tell that that was as close to an apology as she was going to get. She smiled softly at the older archer and he, after a moment of hesitation, nodded back to her.

Kaldur frowned and said, "I believe our next course of action would be to have Red Arrow and Red Tornado pretend that they were still under the influence of the Starro tech to allow us time to access the other heroes and use the cure-tech that was recently created to offset the Starro tech. We should be able to neutralize all of the Justice League before turning our attention to this organization… the Light." Everyone nodded in understanding, steeling themselves for the battle that was to come.

Then Red Arrow suggested, "Why don't we bring Falcon in? We need all hands on deck and I'm not sure the rest of us can take down a speedster while trying to get all the rest of the heroes at the same time. It'd just be easier if we had Falcon helping out."

Artemis noticed Robin tense out of the corner of her eye, his face almost paling. She turned to him completely and interrupted whatever Aqualad was about to say, "Why don't you want Falcon to come? What's been up with you and him lately? Why did he quit the Team in the first place?"

Kaldur answered sternly, "This is not a time to be asking these questions. Red Arrow is correct; we need all the help we can get and Falcon would be of great help. Robin, do you know if he would be in Central that we would be able to go there and Miss Martian could contact him telepathically? Also, is there anyone else you can think to contact."

Robin paused and finally answered, "Yeah, he'd be in Central. And… I'd say the rest of the Bat Clan, but even I don't know where they are right now. They're all on the same case and they're looking for clues all around the world." They changed course for Central immediately, tilting to the side. What case would they be working on that required all of them to work on it? Robin didn't get any less pale and started to fidget when they got closer to Central. What was wrong with him? Artemis frowned to herself and crossed her arms over her chest. She couldn't believe that Kaldur wouldn't let her question Robin. He had to be just as curious as she is!

Then they all heard Megan call out telepathically, Falcon! Can you hear me?

There was a silent pause where everyone was on the edge of their seats and then an answer came, Megalicious? What's up?

Kaldur answered, his calm voice wavering through their heads, We will explain later. The Team direly needs your assistance. I know that you left the Team, but we would be grateful if you helped us this one time. You know that we would not ask if it were not important.

When Falcon answered again, his mental voice was tense and almost nervous, Is Robin going to be there?

The Team all turned to face the mentioned boy, but he was staring fixedly at the floor. Kaldur answered, Yes. The entire Team is here along with our newest member, Rocket. Red Tornado and Red Arrow are here as well. Please tell us where to pick you up and the bioship will hover over the area and lower a ladder.

There was another pause, longer than the earlier one. Falcon finally answered, but his mental voice was tight and resigned, I'm at the Rogue's bar. Robin knows where it is.

Robin started giving instructions for Megan to fly to the right spot and Artemis asked lightly over the mind link, Why are you at a bar? Aren't you a little young for that?

That's a good question. Red Arrow commented, practically projecting an expectant expression.

Falcon answered quickly, Like you care if people get their booze when they're underage Red Arrow, certainly not after Bludhaven. The older archer got strange looks after that comment, but he just shrugged noncommittally while Robin snickered. There was definitely a story there. Falcon continued, For your information, I was playing darts with Trickster like I do every Thursday he's not in jail or the mental hospital. He's not allowed darts after that one time… Artemis didn't even want to guess what happened then.

Megan squealed, You play darts with your villains, Falcon? That's so sweet!

Not as sweet as you Megalicious, Falcon shot back quickly, ignoring the gagging sounds Zatanna made over the connection. Artemis smiled. This was how it was supposed to be. This was how they were all supposed to act because they were supposed to have Falcon on their Team. He brought them all happiness and helped them work together and forget about their worries for a little while. Why did he have to leave?

Finally, the bioship hovered to a stop in a seedy part of town (who knew Central City had a seedy part at all) where Falcon waved to them all. Artemis had to admit that he looked pretty good in his new suit. He looked really good actually. Wow…

Then he was being pulled up. He grinned at Red Arrow, but then his head turned a little and he must have caught sight of Robin because the smile slid off his face and he turned back to Red Arrow, forcing an obviously fake smile back onto his face. Red Arrow frowned between the two of them and the rest looked on with barely concealed curiosity. Before Falcon's older brother figure could say anything, Falcon zipped over to Rocket and said, "Hey there new girl! I'm Falcon, your personal stud muffin and encyclopedia of awesomeness. At your service." He did a little bow and grinned at her and Artemis felt her heart flutter at the thought of him doing something like that for her. She had it bad.

Rocket introduced herself and seemed like she was going to say something else as M'gann set off again, but Kaldur interrupted the moment, saying, "You and Robin working together won't be a problem, correct Falcon?"

Falcon froze and everyone else froze with him. Robin was staring at him with… hope almost. Falcon said, "I… I don't think it'll be a problem. I don't know, really."

Robin's voice was hesitant and small as he asked, "Are you sure?" It was so unlike the normally exuberant teen that Artemis had to turn and stare at him. Red Arrow was scowling fiercely at the two of them, obviously confused and angry at being left out of the loop.

Falcon turned to fact Robin, finally, and he took a deep breath, saying, "Yeah, I'm sure. I can definitely work with you. I just… maybe you could not… come near me… much." Falcon trailed off lamely and the rest of the Team were really starting to wonder what was going on.

No one had a chance ask, however because Kaldur immediately started explaining the situation. When he explained that the rest of the League was most likely under mind control, Falcon gasped slightly and paled dramatically. What was it with the speedster and Boy Blunder getting so worked up about mind control? Do they have some bad experience with it or something? It was weird.

Then, it was time to put the plan in motion and all of her questions and worries drifted away.

WWWWWW

Wally wasn't sure what he was doing. This was bad. This was really, really bad. The entire League was under mind control? He had enough problems when it was just the Bat Clan under mind control! Speaking of that, Robin was in the bioship with him. He could hear Robin's heartbeat (thundering as much as Wally's; obviously just as nervous) and he could smell Robin's scent and… he was little bit freaking out. It wasn't as bad as when he had first woken up and the thought of going near them again had been as terrifying as going near the Joker after that particular mishap. It wasn't as bad as the original phone calls where he stuttered over every other words because he was shaking with so much fear. It wasn't as bad as when Barry suggested that they have at least one of the Waynes come over and Wally had run to the bathroom to puke because they idea scared him that much. It… it actually wasn't that bad. When he calmed down and thought through it rationally and let his worries flow away, it wasn't bad.

His knees weren't quivering and his heart calmed somewhat and he didn't feel like he should constantly be on his guard. And then he remembered that he was in a ship with the rest of his Team and that Red Arrow was there (despite being a clone because that was mildly really not okay and Wally was a little bit really freaking out about that particular fact) and he was completely safe if Robin decided to try to attack him and he calmed down even further. It was starting to feel like a normal bioship ride. Well, at least until he remembered that Batman actually was under mind control and they were going to fight him. Luckily, Robin was assigned that particular task, but that still meant that Wally would have to fight Uncle Barry.

That was not okay. Barry was his buffer against the people who were mind controlled. His uncle saved his life that day and helped him become form his new heroic identity and comforted him after nightmares and let him stay in his house and now it was Barry who was under mind control and that… that was not okay.

"You okay Falcon?" Red Arrow asked hesitantly, obviously concerned. Wally realized that he had been sitting in silence for a while. That, as far as they knew, was not normal for him. They were probably freaking out that he was quiet.

He tried to pass off a believable smile and laughed a little, "Yeah, I'm fine. I just, uh, worried about the fight."

"You? Worried about a fight? Where did mister confidence go?" Artemis joked. Wally smiled to himself; he'd missed her. He really was head over heels for her.

He answered, "Mister confidence fled the room when he realized he was going to have to fight Flash. He's, unfortunately, faster than me, so… I don't know if I'll be able to beat him."

"Come on, he's the Flash. All he does is run around in spandex. It can't be that hard to beat him." Wally felt the air move as Artemis swished a hand around.

He smirked at her and said, "So, if Flash is better than me, how can you think that you can take him down when you couldn't even beat me in training?"

Red Arrow laughed, "That's because you're a speedster and you've got that same freaky Bat training as Robin." He tensed and heard the stretching of material as Robin's muscles coiled in the same way. Apparently Roy noticed because he growled, "And you two are going to tell me what happened after all this is said and done and I won't take no for an answer. Got that?" Wally nodded sullenly and heard the air move as Robin nodded as well. That was going to be a fantastic conversation. It was going to take everything Wally had to make sure Roy didn't kill the entire Bat family. He was just as protective of the teenaged speedster as the Bat Clan and the rest of the speedster… and the entire Justice League… and Oracle… and the Rogues. He suddenly realized that everyone was really protective of him. What was up with that? He was not some baby to be coddled!

He was broken from his sullen thoughts when Aqualad announced that their plan was in motion. It only took a few moments for Red Tornado to disable the Watchtower's security system and then Wally and Artemis were racing for the cargo hold where they were informed Green Arrow, Aquaman, and Flash were.

It was better than his battle with his family. This time, he knew they were under mind control and he also knew he had the cure for them in one of his arm compartments. They wouldn't be able to beat him. They wouldn't win this fight. The Team would win and Wally would fix Uncle Barry and Uncle Hal and King Arthur and they'd hopefully never be under mind control again and they'd defeat the Light which Wally surmised was the core to all of their issues. The Light consisted of a lot of the same people who had helped create Wally's earlier situation. He was determined to get revenge on them for doing this to his family.

From his left, Artemis cried out in pain and he called out, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine! That hurt a little is all." Artemis grunted in reply. Wally couldn't help the worry that coursed through his veins. Was she really alright? Would she be okay? What happened? He heard something hit her, but had been too focused on his own battle to hear what it was. He didn't hear any blood splattering and he knew he didn't hear any bones cracking, so she should be fine. It didn't stop him from worrying, though.

Flash took advantage of his momentary distraction and punched him in the jaw at super speed. Wally went flying backwards, slamming into the wall. Well, that hurt. He heard Artemis scream his superhero name and pushed himself up. He could do this. He had a way to fix Flash. He knew Flash was under mind control. He had help with him. It wasn't going to be like that field with his family. It wasn't!

Just then, he heard Aqualad run into the room and pause, probably seeing the situation they were in. Then Aqualad ran to the other side of the cargo hold and Wally dodged a stray arrow from Uncle Ollie. He heard someone slapping their hand against something… plastic and it sounded like it was coming from where Aqualad had run off to. What was he playing at?

He heard Artemis's gasp and listened as she ran in the opposite direction of where Aqualad was. He heard her smash an arrow into the ground behind a large crate and he could hear the wood creaking slightly beneath her fingers as she held on tightly. What was going on here? She could obviously see something that he couldn't, but what would it be? Then a strong vacuum like power started pulling at his clothes and he understood. Aqualad had opened the airlock. Well, that was sort of helpful except now Wally had to find something to hold onto. He grappled around in his compartments while the suction got stronger and stronger. His feet started sliding back and he started running forwards. He wasn't certain he could outrun the vacuum. Then he found a strong piece of rope attached to a heavy magnet in one of his compartments. He grinned to himself and activated the magnet, attaching to the wall. He tied the rope around his waist and held on tightly. This magnet should withstand anything.

Wally listened as Green Arrow, Flash, and Aquaman started being pulled further and further towards the door. Then, he heard it. The sound of an arrow breaking and a startled shriek from Artemis. He cried out and reached his hand towards her, his echolocation device telling him that the girl of his dreams would be passing by any second. Small fingers intertwined with his before slipping. He cried out again as she screamed. Wally stretched to the absolute maximum and, finally, thankfully, caught hold of her fingers, actually locking with them this time. He pulled her towards him and cradled her to his chest, holding on as he heard the heroes finally get pulled off the ground, hurtling towards the outside.

Artemis huddled her head into Wally's chest and he placed his chin on her hair. How many moments like this had he missed when he'd been away from the Team? Then, he heard the sound of flesh hitting plastic again and the airlock slammed close. Instants later, he heard the sound of three bodies slamming into the door and he winced internally.

He gently let go of Artemis and she stood shakily. He deactivated the magnet and untied the rope from his waist, carefully placing it back in the compartment. Wally called out to Kaldur, "You okay Aqualad?"

"I am fine. Are you and Artemis alright?" Kaldur responded calmly. It was good to see that he was as unruffled as ever.

Wally called back quickly, "Yeah, we're fine. Are they unconscious?" Their breathing patterns and heart rates indicated that they were, but Wally didn't want to take any chances. Kaldur responded affirmatively.

Falcon zipped over to where the bodies were and placed the cure tech on each of them, smiling sadly at the body that he was pretty sure was his biological uncle (the other two counted as uncles, but they weren't related by blood; well technically neither was Uncle Barry because he was related by law, but whatever). Kaldur announced, "We should go to the observation decks where the rest of the Team is. Follow me."

The two heroes followed him up around curves and passages that, according to Wally's mental map, would lead to the observation decks. They got there just in time for the conclusion of the battle there. There was a weird shape that Wally figured was M'gann and he resolved to ask someone what, exactly, she had morphed herself into that particular time. That shape was in front of Martian Manhunter and the two seemed to be waging some mental war. He heard Superboy racing towards another figure and realized with a start that the figure was Batman. That was not okay. That was not okay. He heard Robin and he heard Batman and he could hear the sounds of them fighting and suddenly he was back in that field and they were attacking him and he couldn't breathe and he couldn't escape and they were going to kill him and Uncle Barry couldn't save him anymore and why was this happening again and he still couldn't breathe and he thought he could do this why why why?

A hand came down on his shoulder and Wally flinched, grabbing the arm instinctively and flipping the person over his shoulder, twirling around and digging his knee into their throat. It was only after a second that he realized that it was Superboy who he had just flipped. He backed up quickly, hands in the air, and said, "I'm so sorry! You caught me off guard! I am so, so very sorry! Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. You just spaced out for a second and then your heart started going really fast, well, faster than usual. Are you alright?" Superboy asked back, concern lacing his voice. The other members of the Team stopped walking and he could feel their stares burning into him even if he couldn't see them. Wally nodded and started walking, trying to play it off as nothing. Conner shrugged and started walking beside him, probably sending him worried glances. He was fine now. It was just… it was just that hearing Batman and Robin fight was… not fun. It was almost like a trigger or something and his memories of that particular evening came rushing back in. He had thought he'd be fine since he really wasn't having that much of a problem on the bioship, so maybe… maybe he could go home. He thought that it would be alright to go back to living at Wayne manor, but he couldn't rejoin this Team. He couldn't fight alongside Robin or the rest of the Bat Clan. He might be able to join them again eventually, but it was going to take longer than he thought.

They got to the control rooms just in time for Wally to hear a whooshing sound along with the fading rhythms of Vandal Savage and Klarion's heartbeats. Apparently they just missed them. Then Red Tornado was announcing emotionlessly, "Congratulations on your victory, young heroes." Wally beamed at anyone who was looking his way and everyone started cheering. Then, Wally had the perfect idea.

He sped over to where Artemis was standing and scooped her up bridal style. Her small yelp of surprise was enough to cause everyone to stop cheering and probably stare at them. Wally didn't care as he swept Artemis upwards, his lips landing against hers gently. They kissed for a few blissful, heavenly moments, each of their lips curling into smiles as they kissed like it was the last kiss they'd ever have and not the first. When Wally finally pulled away, it was only by a few centimeters and he laughed gently, "I should've done that a long time ago."

"Yeah you should have, Baywatch." Artemis said before pulling him in for another kiss. He heard Megan squeal in joy at the two of them before Superboy pulled her into a kiss. Then Zatanna walked over and kissed Robin (when had that become a thing; or did it just then become a thing), Rocket pecking Aqualad on the cheek.

There was a pause where the couples continued kissing, but then Red Tornado announced, "I do not understand human customs." They all laughed, basking in the glow of their victory and their love. It was a beautiful moment.


	22. Chapter 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wally comes home and the Team find out Dick and Wally's secret IDs.

DDDDDD

It was almost like that day all those years ago when Wally walked into their lives for the first time. Damian sat with an arm set lightly across Colin's shoulders while the said fiancé curled into Damian's side, seemingly as contented as a cat. Damian himself was deceptively calm on the outside, his insides a raging tempest of uncertainty and guilt and excitement and so many other emotions he never thought someone other than Colin would inspire in him. Wally really had changed all of their lives for the better.

Dick was sitting at the far end of the couch, practically bouncing with anxiety. Damian didn't really think it was fair that Dick had already interacted with him along with Bruce. They should have been there too! Then again, that many of them there at the same time might have overwhelmed him. That's why they had Colin there. He, alongside the others, was supposed to work as some sort of buffer since Wally had mentioned that having others there helped, knowing that he wasn't alone if it came down to a fight. And hadn't that burned to hear.

Cass was sitting cross-legged on the floor directly in front of Damian with Tim and Jason sitting as far away from each other as they possibly could in the parlor. Damian was immensely glad that Wally wouldn't be able to see the slightly crooked quality of Tim's nose where he broke it. Wally would have been heartbroken that he permanently damaged Tim's face. Was it bad that Damian was momentarily glad that his youngest brother was blind? Probably.

Alfred was with Bruce picking Wally up. Somehow Stephanie had weaseled her way into the house and was practically sitting in Tim's lap. Ever since Wally started 'shipping' the two of them (Damian entirely blamed Wally's school friend, Sally, for teaching the blind teen modern slang), he had been determined to get them in a permanent relationship with each other and it seemed to be working; they'd been dating without any breakups and only minimal fighting for almost two years now.

Crouching on the table next to Dick and idly flipping a knife in the air and catching it again was Roy Harper. Damian could tell that the archer was tense, his every muscle clenched and his jaw working. It was obvious that he wanted to be out in the world searching for the real Roy Harper, the one that they'd met all those years ago. He had seemingly become obsessed with the notion of finding Speedy, abandoning Star City and hunting everywhere he could possibly think of. The only thing that got him to come to this was Dick's giant blue puppy dog eyes that could sway anyone and the only thing that got him to wash up and shave was Alfred's disapproving glance when Roy walked in. There really was no defense against Alfred's disapproval.

Suddenly, the door opened and everyone's eyes turned to face the arriving group. Alfred walked in and held the door open for a young teenager to work himself into the house, Bruce hovering behind him, but not getting too close. Once they all made it in, Alfred shut the door and ushered the two crime fighters into the parlor where the others were waiting. Everyone was tense, eyes looking everywhere but at the one they hurt and the one they hurt curling in on himself for protection. It was obvious that he was making an effort to remain calm, but it must have been really hard. Damian couldn't even imagine how difficult it was for Wally to be doing this. All of them hurt him. What right did they have to end up with him lighting up their lives with tentative, but real, smiles like the one he was aiming at them right that moment?

Dick stood up and walked towards his younger brother, catching Roy by the arm and pulling him along with the young acrobat. Grayson came to a stop two or three feet away from Wally and smiled brightly, his voice only wavering for a second, "I'm glad your back Wally."

"It's good to be back, dude. I really missed you guys a lot, you know." There was a pause and Wally ran his hand over the back of his neck sheepishly before continuing, "Uh, I'm sorry, by the way. I'm so sorry for everything I put you guys through. I worried you and then I hurt you when I wouldn't come back and then I even went as far as to change my superhero persona and… I'm sorry."

Colin had his hand over his mouth, eyes sparkling and Stephanie wasn't in much better shape. Tim was looking at his youngest sibling with something akin to horror, as if he thought it atrocious that Wally would be apologizing to them. Cass's face held immense sadness and the guilt she felt was written across her features for anyone to see. Bruce and Dick held the same heartbroken, lost expressions that Damian knew was on his own face and Roy looked like he would hurt all of them if they weren't Bats and the fighting wouldn't scare Wally. And Jason… Jason stood up and walked slowly over to where Wally was standing, arm down now and clutched in the grip of his other hand. Todd stepped closer than any of the others would have dared and, to the great surprise of everyone in the room, pulled Wally in for a hug.

It was… heartwarming to say the least. Damian would never admit that out loud because how could Jason possibly ever do something heartwarming, but it was still touching to watch. Jason's hug was loose and non-threatening, his head rested lightly atop the younger's head. Wally had frozen for a moment, limbs tensing and molecules vibrating, but then he loosened up and became less visibly upset. He leaned into his elder brother's touch and, eventually, curled his own arms around Jason's torso, burying his head in Todd's shoulder. That's when Wally started crying, tears rolling down his cheeks and soft hiccups emanating from his throat. Jason just held him and started rubbing soothing circles on the speedster's back, providing silent comfort. It was apparently just what the younger boy needed because he was smiling at them all, bright and almost care free, when Jason released him.

Then they all just stood/sat there awkwardly. Jason gave them all a look that said 'Well, I did my part, so I'm out of here' and promptly went off who knows where and left the rest of them to just stare at each other. Damian sighed to himself and pinched the bridge of his nose. Even after all these kids and after so many years with each other, they still had a problem when someone came into the house after a long period away. It was ridiculous. This time, unlike when Wally originally arrived, Damian took the initiative to get up and bring Wally up to his room. He didn't need Colin to pester (not that Colin could truly pester anyone) him into doing it. Colin stood up with him and practically floated over to Wally, taking his arm and starting to waltz up the stairs with his soon to be brother-in-law on his arm. Fantastic.

After a second, Wally turned slightly and called, "Dami? You coming with us?" Damian realized that he'd been standing at the bottom of the stairs, watching Colin for a little longer than he planned. By the smirk in Wally's voice, he knew exactly what the delay in movement had been caused by. Curse him. Damian couldn't help the way his lips twitched into a smile for a moment, though, because Wally had used his nickname and was teasing him and it was so much like it used to be before. Maybe Wally really was better. He had said that he felt like he was better and would have no problem, but they hadn't really believed him. Wally always said things like that so others would stop worrying about him. He did it to protect them and they weren't sure if that was his way of trying to make them feel better, or if it was true and he really was better. It seemed as if it were the latter.

Damian knew that Wally had said that he would not fight alongside them under any circumstances, but he hoped that wouldn't be true forever. It was always fun for all of them to fight with each other and train using each other, but then again, he didn't want Wally to get scared of them and he promised to himself that he really wouldn't hurt Wally again. This time, he was determined to keep it. He'd find a way to make absolute sure that no one would ever be able to control his mind again and he knew that he'd never willingly hurt his brother. He would do every last thing in his power to protect his youngest brother and he would never ever hurt him. A last parting glance at the rest of the family showed that they were all thinking the same thing.

DDDDDD

Dick was nervous. He was really, really, really nervous. He knew that, logically, he shouldn't be. If he was thinking logically, he should actually be really, really excited, but he's not thinking logically, so he's nervous. Batman finally gave him and Wally permission to reveal their identities to the Team. Bruce had told them that they worked very well with their Team and it was obvious how trustworthy all of them were and then he gave the permission. The two youngest Wayne's had jumped in the air and high fived immediately after the announcement.

So, Dick knew that this moment was totally asterous, but at the same time, he was really whelmed. Looking over at his brother, he suddenly realized that Wally was feeling the same way. He placed a hand on the vibrating teen's shoulder and said gently, "It'll be alright. Nothing will change except we'll all be closer friends."

"Oh and that's why your heart's pounding at a speed so fast you could almost pass as a speedster?" Wally retorted scathingly. Well okay then. Wally had to be really nervous. He was only ever rude like this when he was feeling extreme emotions (Robin didn't think it was possible for him to be rude otherwise).

What Robin said was true, though. It really wouldn't be that different. M'gann and Kaldur probably wouldn't have heard of them because they hadn't been in the human world all that long and were focused on more important things than celebrity gossip. It was a fifty fifty chance whether or not the genomorphs had taught Conner about the Wayne family. Zatanna, Raquel, and Artemis were a different story, though. They had all grown up in the world with ample exposure to all the Waynes. They were definitely bound to recognize the names that Robin and Falcon would be putting forth when everyone got to the Cave.

He knew that Artemis was the person who tripped Wally up the most. The two had been dating ever since they kissed up in the Watchtower and the entire family could tell how serious they were. Wally hadn't been back to the Mountain yet, though, choosing instead to bring Artemis on dates to places in Central where seeing two young superheroes eating a romantic meal really didn't bother anyone. Wally had to be ridiculously nervous about how Artemis was going to react to having a rich, blind, incredibly intelligent, going off to college soon boyfriend. She had even met Wally (and Dick for that matter) at school and knew that he was a senior who had just graduated. It was going to be awkward for everyone.

Zatanna was the one that Dick was personally nervous about. The two weren't exactly dating even after the kiss they had shared that day, but they weren't exactly not dating either. It was all very confusing and neither of them had any idea what was going on or how to change it into something better for both of them and Dick wasn't sure how this was going to affect their relationship. They had actually gotten into a fight the other week about Dick not telling her his secret identity and now he was about to tell her and he felt like he was going to throw up. He pleaded in his mind to anyone that would listen that no one would treat them differently after all of this.

Finally, the Team started flowing into the room. Each of them looked at the two Gothamites curiously as they halted in front of them. Robin and Falcon were in their civvies so it would be easier to show that they were who they claimed they were. Falcon had to run some shampoo thing through his hair to get rid of the black dye and Robin had to take off his sunglasses and then they would both be recognizable as Waynes. Kaldur spoke amiably from his position next to M'gann, "Falcon. It is good to see you here again. You have not been here for a while and it has been quiet without you. Are you perhaps rejoining the Team?" Robin winced internally as Falcon answered in the negative. Wally still refused to fight with them and Robin wasn't sure if he would ever rejoin the Team.

Conner then asked bluntly, "Then why are you here?" Megan hit his arm, whispering something about rudeness, but Robin wasn't really listening. This was the moment of the big reveal. This was when it all went down. Wally turned his head slightly in Dick's direction and Dick smiled to himself. He'd always wanted to be the big brother to someone and it was moments like this that he was reminded that he was the big brother and Wally looked up to him for help.

Robin coughed slightly to get everyone's attention back on him and said, "Well, Batman's given us permission to… to reveal our identities." There was a moment's pause where everyone stared at him with mouths open and eyes popping and he smiled to himself. That was worth the reaction. He continued, "We trust you to never inform another soul of our identities and we trust that you won't treat us any differently than you already do. Is our trust misplaced?" The vigorous ways they shook their head told him that they would never betray him; not that he ever thought they would.

Wally had sped shampooed (Robin was certain it wasn't actually shampoo that Wally put in his hair to get all the black out, but he had no idea what it actually was, so he just called it that) his hair and it was bright red. Dick took off his sunglasses and turned his huge blue eyes on the rest of the Team. Zatanna, Raquel, and Artemis's faces were all slowly morphing from expressions of shock to expressions of recognition. Robin stated, "My name is Richard John Grayson-Wayne, but you can call me Dick. I like that name better than Richard."

"My name's Wallace Rudolph West-Wayne, but you can call me Wally. I'm not a huge fan of the name Wallace, personally, although Alfred continues to claim that it's a perfectly suitable name for a young boy." Wally announced. Dick knew he'd be rolling his eyes if he could.

They waited patiently for everyone to respond. Each member of the Team looked at each other and seemed to decide that they'd talk one at a time from left to right. It certainly made it easier. Conner started by saying blandly, "Cool."

Megan squealed at Wally and smiled, "You have red hair just like mine! That's so cool! And Dick, you have such amazing eyes! They're beautiful!" Dick smiled; he should have known that this was exactly how Megan would have reacted.

Kaldur commented calmly, "I am very glad that you trusted us with this information. It is a pleasure to meet you Dick, and you Wally." The two smiled in his direction, feeling the former anxiety drain from their shoulders.

Here was the hard part, however. The earlier three obviously had no idea who the two of them were, but the last three definitely recognized them. Raquel blinked a couple of times before asking, "Boy, why didn't you tell me you were rich? I'd of made a much better effort of making friends with you if I'd known that." The smile she threw his way told Dick that she was joking. She was obviously still surprised, but she was doing her best to act the same around them like Dick had asked them too.

Zatanna stared at Dick for a moment before running and hugging him, surprising the acrobat. She whispered, "Thank you for telling me," and pecked him on the cheek before hugging Wally (not nearly as tightly Dick noted) and telling him, "Thank you as well for telling us." Wally just smiled awkwardly at her, giving Dick a thumbs up behind his back. Dick rolled his eyes and regretting telling his younger brother that he had a crush on the magician. He teased him about it at every opportunity.

Then it was Artemis's turn. She wasn't even looking in Dick's direction; her attention was focused solely on her boyfriend. There was a long moment of silence and everyone looked between the two, unsure of what was going on. Then Artemis said, "You… you're blind. You're blind and you're friends with a ton of my friends at school and you talked with me all the time and… and… I'm really glad you told me Falc- er, Wally. I'm really glad you told me Wally." She ran to hug him tightly, much as Zatanna had done moments before. She ignored the stares that the other members of the Team were sending their youngest (apparently even the two who recognized them hadn't connected the name with the fact that he was blind) and just hugged him with all of her might. She then glared over his shoulder and looked straight at Dick saying, "We'll laugh about this someday, huh?" Dick chuckled sheepishly.

Just then Megan's voice shrieked, "Falcon's blind?"

Wally laughed nervously and used the hand not currently wrapped around Artemis's waist to rub the back of his neck. He answered shyly, "Yeah, I'm completely blind. My, uh, my biological father stabbed my eyes out when I was a kid. He had been abusing me for a while. That was how I ended up going to a Gotham orphanage where Bruce found me and took me in. It was probably the best day of my life." Robin winced to himself. They had had the funeral service for whatever was left of his father a couple of weeks ago (they had finished running tests by then) and his mother had been arrested again, this time for aiding a criminal organization. It was hard to get the charges to stick without people figuring out that Wally was a superhero, but they managed it.

By now, the Martian had her hands clasped over her mouth and Artemis was looking at her boyfriend with a sad expression, tears held resolutely at the edge between staying and falling. Wally shrugged and said, "No big deal."

Before one of the girls could make a comment on that, Kaldur asked, "How is it that you can run the way you do without sight? I do not understand how you can fight so well that other superheroes cannot even tell that you are blind."

Artemis gasped and hit her boyfriend's arm, "That's why you had me read the chemistry questions out loud when you were helping me with your homework! You couldn't read it otherwise!"

Wally laughed and nodded before answering Kaldur's question, "So, the way I got my super speed also managed to enhance my senses. At least, I think that's why I have such heightened senses. I lost my sight the day after I left the hospital after getting my powers. With the increase in senses, I can almost paint a picture in my head about the room around me. I can hear each of your individual heartbeats and every person's heart beats in a different pattern, especially among superheroes that are different species. That, along with the unique scent that each person has, tells me who's in the room and where they are. I can feel things really well, too, so that means that I can feel when the air movement is blocked by something, like a crate or a chair or something. Plus, Aunt Talia gave me some really awesome echolocation devices that I put on my goggles and in my blind person glasses. Echolocation is basically where the device issues a click and the echoes from that click can tell you the shape of whatever is in front of you. The only problem with those is that when I'm running, by the time the echoes get back to me, I've already run into the thing. But the ones that Aunt Talia gave me issues clicks fast enough that I can use them and run at the same time. I also had a lot of training from the Bat Clan and from Flash." He gave them a smile, obviously more than ecstatic that they were taking this relatively well.

Then Raquel's mouth dropped open and she said, "Does this mean Bruce Wayne is Batman? And then, based on ages, Damian Wayne would be Nightwing, Jason Todd-Wayne would be Red Hood, Timothy Drake-Wayne is Red Robin, and then Cassandra Cain-Wayne is Black Bat! Oh my gosh, we know the secret identities of all of the Bat Clan! Oh my gosh!"

Zatanna and Artemis blinked in shock as well, positively stunned. Then Robin commented lightly, "You forgot about Batgirl who now goes by the name of Oracle. We consider her, Abuse, and Spoiler to be honorary members of the Bat Clan, so you don't know everyone just yet." Wally laughed and Dick smiled. This was perfect. This was better than he could ever imagine this going. Everyone knew everyone else's name now and even though Wally wasn't going to be on the Team, they were all going to be friends until they died. This was a friendship that would last. It was built on love and trust and hardships and battles and they would never abandon each other, no matter what. It was amazing and Dick wondered if this was how Bruce felt when he was with the Justice League, or how Tim felt when he was with the Teen Titans. He supposed that it probably was.

Then Artemis opened her mouth and asked, "So, are you guys ever going to tell us what made Falc- um Wally quit the Team and got Robi- ugh Dick so down in the dumps for so long?"

The two mentioned froze. She was not supposed to ask that. They had promised each other to answer every question and answer truthfully, but… this was something else. This was not something Dick wanted to talk about, ever. Then Wally tilted his head back towards his older brother and Dick sighed in defeat. They had promised to answer every question.

And so he told them about the Rogue battle that Wally and the Flash fought and how Wally ran home as usual. He told them about how Wally's father confronted him and injured him before the speedster could capture him. Dick informed them about their being under mind control and the battle that quickly ensued. He told them how Flash had to come to the rescue and how Wally was unconscious for two days. He let them know that Wally had to live with the Flash for a while and change his superhero name and how he eventually started calling the family. It was hard to talk about, but it kind of helped too. Wally didn't say anything until Robin trailed off and then he told about them contacting him for help and sitting in the bioship with Robin and fighting his mentor and hearing Batman and Robin fight. He explained that he knew that he wouldn't be able to handle being near them when they fought, so he made the decision to stay off the Team. By the end, all of the girls were in tears and the boys looked upset.

"It's okay now, though. I'm back to living with my family and now you guys all know my secret ID, so it's all good." Wally finished with a smile. Yes, Dick thought with a smile, it was all good now because now Wally's light wouldn't be hidden behind some mask. Now they were a true Team.


	23. Chapter 23

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More interlude random jazz

WHEN WALLY GRADUATED

Bruce never got tired of going to graduation day. He never got bored as he watched student after student file across the stage and get handed their diplomas. Even after going to Damian and Jason and Tim and Cass's graduation, he still didn't get bored. He'd be just as excited at Dick's graduation as he was now, at Wally's. Alfred was sitting on one side of him and Dick was on his other. Tim and Cass had made the flights from their respective cities so they could be here to watch Wally's graduation, especially since tensions were still a little high in the house and everyone was just trying to fit everything back together again, and they were sitting on Dick's other side. Damian and Jason sat on Jason's other side.

He was distracted from his thoughts when they announced that the valedictorian would be giving his speech. Sally led Wally West-Wayne up to the podium and he cleared his throat imperceptibly before beginning, "When we were five, they asked us what we wanted to be when we grew up. Our answers were things like astronaut, president, or in my case, superhero. When we were ten, they asked again and we answered – rock star, cowboy, or in my case, professional dog sitter. But now that we've grown up, they want a serious answer. Well, how about this: who knows? This isn't the time to make hard and fast decisions; it's time to make mistakes. Take the wrong train and get stuck somewhere chill. Fall in love – a lot. Major in philosophy because there's no way to make a career out of that. Change your mind. Then change it again, because nothing is permanent. So make as many mistakes as you can. That way, someday, when they ask again what we want to be… we won't have to guess. We'll know."

There was stunned silence for a few seconds before the room burst into applause. There were the whoops and hollers of graduating seniors and there was the dignified gentle clapping of the rich and entitled. And then, louder than anyone else, there were the cheers and vigorous clapping of the Wayne family, all watching as their youngest finished off his speech, graduating high school at fourteen years old and top of his class. It was an amazing moment.

A while later found the Wayne family in their limousine being driven by Alfred. Wally was handling at his diploma with an air of awed wonder and was holding it as if it would crumble to pieces if he moved it so much as a centimeter. It was endearing to watch. Jason was sitting next to him, playfully shoving his shoulder and trying to grab the diploma. Dick was practically on top of the poor blind child, reaching for his chords and trying to take them. Wally continued to swat their hands away, Cass occasionally aiding him, but more often just laughing. Tim was smiling proudly at his brother as if he was somehow directly involved in the wonderful achievements Wally had earned. Damian had his nose in a book; every once in a while, he would survey the entire scene and award them with a small, secretive smile as if he didn't want anyone to see it.

Bruce just watched over them all with much the same manner as Wally held his diploma. This… this is why he adopted these kids. This was why he felt that it was best if they became Waynes. These were all children whose lives were… monstrous. The heir to an empire trained from birth to become an assassin and work for the shadowy League of Assassins. A street orphan who was only discovered because he was trying to steal the tires of the Batmobile. A boy whose parents were poisoned, leaving the mother dead and the father in a coma. A terrified young girl who was taught to murder and never taught to speak. A young acrobat who watched at his parents fell to their deaths due to sabotage. A sweet speedster blinded and abused before being left on his own. And yet… somehow here they all were, smiling and laughing and teasing each other.

Even after their ordeals as superheroes (Jason's death and Dick's torture at the hands of Two Face came to mind) and even after all the horrible things that happened to the people around them (the deaths of other superheroes, the paralysis of Barbara, friends going bad) they still acted like this. Bruce liked to think that he played at least some small part in that. He liked to think that they were still so happy at this point because they other people who were just as desperate, just as broken as them to surround themselves with. They healed each other and they healed him. They were what made his life complete and he hoped that he helped to make theirs complete as well. Bruce then smiled to himself as he thought of the surprise they had waiting at home for Wally. It wasn't just Bruce and his children that completed each other, but their friends too.

Ten minutes later found the Wayne family trouping out of the limo and into the house. Bruce repressed a sigh at the giddy expressions on his children's faces. They were lucky Wally couldn't see because otherwise they'd be spoiling the entire thing. He trained them better than that. Bruce glanced at Wally's face to see if he had guessed anything of their surprise or not, but his neutral expression told him that his idea of installing sound proof material on the outer walls of the house was a good idea. The boy, no, teen, had no idea.

Then, Alfred was gracefully opening the door and stepping through, somehow getting into the perfect angle to not be in the way as swiftly as only he could manage. And the expression on Wally's face was worth all of it. His mouth formed a perfect 'o' and he stepped back a little bit, surprise and then confusion and then dawning understanding and then gratitude and then pure happiness flitted across his face emotion after emotion, each one lasting only a second in true speedster fashion. It always amused Bruce how fast speedsters could do everything from eat to think to talk to feel. They certainly were their own little bracket of humanity, off living in their own world. It was moments like this that anchored them back into reality for a moment, however brief. It was moments like this that Barry and Wally (and Jay the few times they had met) claimed to enjoy the most; moments of extreme emotion that link them to other people and force them to slow down to completely comprehend because otherwise, they're always speeding ahead of everyone else and it's so very lonely. At that particular moment, however, Bruce was determined to make sure that Wally didn't feel that loneliness.

There, standing in the parlor and shouting, "Congratulations on graduating!" was everyone Wally knew and loved. Barry, Iris, Jay, and Joan were standing near the front, expressions as proud as Bruce knew his own was. Dinah, Oliver, Roy, Artemis, and Paula were clumped together next to the speedster families, showing off their own family unit. The Team stood off to the other side of the speedsters, each of their mentors standing proudly behind them, sending beaming smiles at Wally. Colin, Stephanie, Barbara, and Jim Gordon formed their own group and laughed at Wally's dumbfounded expression. Then there were the stragglers who merged with a group for a moment or two before moving on to another group and so on: Hal, Talia, and Selina were said stragglers.

The smile that lit Wally's face, spreading out from a small grin and moving on to that full, vibrant grin that Bruce had only ever seen successfully pulled off by Wally himself, made the hours spent organizing this party completely worth it. Watching as Wally launched himself at Barry and Iris, being pulled into their hugs and receiving the kisses to the top of his head, before moving on to giving Grandpa Jay and Grandma Joan hugs and then showing off his diploma to the four of them was endearing. The Wayne family all smiled and watched at Wally then twirled Artemis before dipping her down and kissing her gently before twirling her back and kissing her mother's hand in greeting, just like a proper gentleman. He gave Dinah the diploma to look over after he hugged her and Oliver while he talked with Roy who merely gave him a tight smile and a slight ruffle of the hair. He took his diploma back and moved onto the Team, who grinned and patted him on the back, laughing and smiling and congratulating him. Seconds later found him hugging Barbara and shaking hands with Jim before getting scooped up by a sniffling Stephanie who then deposited the red head in Colin's arms as he sniffled and crushed his soon to be brother in law with a huge hug. The Wayne family watched as Wally high-fived Hal and then did some weird secret handshake thing that Hal really should have grown out of by now. Wally moved on to give Talia a warm hug that made Damian gag from behind them (Bruce wasn't entirely certain when Wally started calling her Aunt Talia and inviting her to all of his special events and he wasn't entirely certain why Talia seemed so smitten with the young speedster, but he didn't care as long as no one got hurt) and then he held up his diploma for Selina to see (Bruce also wasn't sure when Wally started calling her Aunt Selina, but all of his kids called her that, so it wasn't as concerning as it could be).That was when the party really got started with food (enough for three speedsters, a Martian, a half Kryptonian, an Atlantean, a Green Lantern, fifteen other assorted heroes, a villain, a former villain, a cop, a master assassin, and two speedster wives… which was a lot of food) coming out and music starting up and the separated groups evaporating into one large mass of people just looking to congratulated Wally and have a good time.

Bruce took one last moment to look around at his family and smiled. Every single one of the people in that room at that moment were loved by Wally as family and loved Wally as family. Every single one of them was willing to die for him and that warmed Bruce's heart a little bit. It made him feel better about sending his youngest out into the world because there were others willing to look out for them. He might not trust some of them (the Rogues, who were unable to attend because they don't know Falcon's true identity yet, came to mind), but that didn't mean that he wasn't still heartened by the fact that they would do their absolute best to help the young, blind speedster any way they can. Bruce smiled one last time and then went to mingle at his youngest son's graduation party. He deserved some fun after all the work he put into setting this up.

WHEN WALLY MET JINX AGAIN

Jinx sat up on a rooftop, watching the streets of Central City. She didn't know why she was here. She wasn't sure at all what she was expecting. There was a perfectly legitimate chance that she wouldn't even see Falcon here today; knowing her luck, there was no way she was going to spot him. And even if she did spot him, it wasn't like she could just shout down at him and say, hey, come up here. And then, even if she did somehow manage to convince him to come up to the top of the building she was on, she didn't even know what she was going to say! Jinx knew that he had changed his superhero name (something that caused quite the stir in the criminal underworld; apparently more villains liked Swift than she thought) and she knew that he had managed to find himself a girlfriend. That part was a shame really. She… she might have developed a minor (read: major) crush on him after that night in the museum. She was a villain that he'd never met before and he just… he didn't care about that. He didn't care about anyone else but her in that moment and… that was something she'd never experienced before. That was something that no one had ever bothered to take the time to do for her before and it was only two days after he talked with her that she realized that she missed having someone who would give her their whole attention for a period of time, however brief.

It hadn't taken much longer than that to realize that she really wanted to talk to him again and that she really wanted to see him and make sure his problem was all cleared up. That was another thing. No one (especially not a hero) would just come up to a villain and, the same day they met, just tell them all their problems. No one, that is, except for Falcon. She was also incredibly proud that she was the first one who knew his new name. But therein rested another problem. He had told him to remake himself the way he wanted to and he did, beautifully, but he'd told her to do the same thing. She couldn't try to talk to him until she reached a higher standing in the criminal underworld and made herself into a criminal she could be proud of. So, she had shed her ties with the HIVE five and moved on, finding new challenges and more entertaining jobs. She'd taken a leaf out of the Rogues' book and decided to never kill and to not do drugs and, finally, Jinx was proud of herself. She was high ranking and she'd gotten to that position fairly (as fairly as one can get in a criminal community) and with no killing and no drugs and no Gotham villain level theatrics. So now she was finally coming to talk with Falcon and she was choking. It was awful.

A noise behind her startled her and Jinx leapt around before feeling wind rush at hear and catching a blur out of the corner of her eye. The blur materialized to a stop directly in front of her and her heart started pounding. Falcon. The hero grinned at her, so light and carefree, and leaned against a conveniently placed vent, "Long time no see Jinx. What's up? How you been? What brings you here to my fine city today?" He gave off another smile, but this one seemed as if he were laughing at his own private joke. This was another thing Jinx could tell that she liked about this hero. He was so… easygoing and bright and it could hide anything. It made her feel like every bad thing she'd done in her life, every regret, was washed away and forgotten every time she was in her presence (all of two times including the current one). It was refreshing.

She answered nonchalantly, "I've just been going around, making myself a pretty awesome villain. I just came here because I was bored." She shrugged and turned away from him partially, but that was more to hide her blush than anything else.

The smirk in his voice when he answered told her that he'd seen the blush and she bristled internally, "I thought for sure you came here because you wanted to see me. Come on, tell me you missed me! Ooh, do you have a crush on me?"

"I do not!" Jinx retorted hotly, "And don't you have a girlfriend right now?"

"Are you saying that you'd like me if I didn't?" Falcon teased, his grin pulling at the corners of his lips to turn into something playful and worried all at once. Oh. Falcon was worried about her. He thought that she came here because she was in trouble about something. Those heroes and their hero complexes were so annoying! Why were they so self-sacrificing and noble and always willing to push aside their problems to help someone else with theirs?

Jinx ignored his last comment and asked, "Well, how about you? Did you get your little problem sorted out?" Falcon tilted his head and Jinx could imagine him blinking in surprise underneath those practically opaque goggles he wore. How could he even see things through those?

Then Falcon laughed and said, "It's all worked out by now. Your advice was perfect, thanks!" There was a pause where she smiled softly at him (and would deny that fact for the rest of her life) and then he continued, "You know, you asked me last time we met if that was the time when I try and convert you and you told me that I was wasting my time." Jinx blinked. She hadn't thought that he'd remember that. He continued, "I never did try too hard at trying to convert you because… well because I didn't think you were meant to be a hero right at that moment. I know that you are meant to be a hero at some point. It's just… it's just something that I can feel. You'd be an awesome hero! But you had to find yourself first. You making yourself into a villain that you felt would be a legitimate villain was your way of finding yourself and I think you realized that some of the things that you used to do were wrong. Actually, I know that. I know that because you stopped doing them. Your villainy style is much more similar to the Rogues than before when your style was reminiscent of Madame Rouge's style. And the Rogues, they don't fight because they truly believe that they're evil and they want to cause pain and misery to the people around them. They're villains because they're bored and stealing stuff and causing mayhem is something that's fun and they're good at. I have a feeling that that's where you are, but you don't know what to do with yourself because it still doesn't quite fit. You're still looking for that one role that will define you and fit you perfectly and I believe that that role is a superhero. I can get in contact with someone to try to help to rehabilitate you and take you in and show you how to be a superhero. Please, just consider it Jinx."

Falcon smiled and she was about to say something, but then his head lifted up and he started backing up, saying, "Gotta run! See you later Jinx!" before running full speed over the edge of the building and running down it and into the streets.

Sitting innocently in the spot where he had stood moments before was a small piece of paper. It read:

This is my hero number ~ 785-232-0370

Call me anytime you want someone to talk to, or need some help.

Think about my offer and call me when you reach a decision.

Falcon

Jinx smiled and folded the paper up neatly, putting it into her sleeve. She bit her bottom lip indecisively and thought about what she said. Was she really meant to be a hero? Would it be that bad to try it out? She'd worked so hard to build up the criminal rap she had, but… was it worth hanging onto when she could be a hero. Falcon said that he'd find somebody who'd help her and she trusts him. Jinx started ambling down the stairs into the building and thought to herself. What to do? What to do?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just completely made up the phone number. Please don't try to call it.


	24. Chapter 24

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Even more interlude stuff.

WHEN WALLY HAD THANKSGIVING AT THE ALLEN'S

Barry was frantic. There was so much cooking to do! He and Iris had been cooking all day and they weren't finished yet and the guests would be coming in an hour.

Ever since they'd discovered they had a nephew all those years ago, the Allens had been switching who hosted which holiday at their house. Last year, the Waynes had hosted Thanksgiving, so this year it was the Allen's turn. And they were running behind schedule. Of course, this wasn't anything new. Last time they'd had the family over for Thanksgiving, they'd finished cooking the dinner ten minutes before the Waynes arrived. This time, though, it was looking as if they'd have to eat dinner late. It wasn't anyone's particular fault. Barry had forgotten to set the alarm and Iris hadn't calculated for the extra time required to make a meal fit for three speedsters and their families (Jay and Joan were coming this year) and it was just a relatively large mess.

Iris bustled out of the kitchen and hit him with something, scolding seriously, "Bartholomew Allen. What are you doing just standing there? Get your fast little butt back into that kitchen and start setting out the vegetables and cutting off some slices of cheese right now. Got it?" Barry nodded mutely and rushed into the kitchen, chopping at super speed and setting things out as fast as he could without vibrating through them or something embarrassing like that. He remembered when he accidently got a carrot stuck halfway through a table one time and hadn't noticed. Jay and Joan had come over and Joan had just looked at it for a full thirty seconds before sighing loudly. Iris had glared at Barry until he vibrated it out and sheepishly offered it to her. That was an experience that did not need repeating. He could only imagine the looks he would get from the Bat Clan if they saw that. Their little 'secretly laughing at him' looks would intensify. Even after all these years they still gave him that look. It was the same one Batman gave him when he was in a good mood. Was it weird to love hanging out with Bruce, but slightly dread when Batman comes around? Barry decided that it wasn't weird because he was a superhero and the rest of the JL would probably say the same thing as him.

Iris continued to give him more things to do as she hustled around the kitchen, seasoning things and pulling things out of the oven and rearranging the fridge and doing all sorts of other things to try to make dinner easier. The two worked seamlessly around each other, twirling in and out of each other's way and slipping past each other with pecks on the cheek and bright smiles. It was beautiful.

And then, before he knew it, the doorbell was ringing. Barry zipped over to the door and pulled it open just in time to receive an armful of blind teenager. Barry grinned and ruffled his nephew's hair before enveloping him in a huge hug. Dick bundled himself into the hug and smiled up at Barry who just rolled his eyes and hugged the slightly older boy as well. The other Wayne children simply walked into the house as if they owned the place, glancing around with that same expression they always wore. That is, until Iris walked in. Then it was all smiles and charm leaving Iris blushing and cooing. So not fair. The smirk Bruce sent his way told Barry that the billionaire was using his Bat telepathy to know what he was thinking. Barry had a theory that the Bat Clan all had this secret method of telepathy that they didn't tell anyone else about because there is no way they could figure out as much as they do without telepathy. Dick always claimed it was from reading body language but that didn't explain how Wally did it, or how Cass did it when she wasn't even looking at a person. It was definitely Bat telepathy.

Barry finally closed the door when the two youngest Bats detached themselves from him and moved onto Iris, having been waiting for Alfred to make his way inside with the side dish the Waynes were contributing. He looked over the assembled group and smiled to himself when he realized that Colin was there. That always made this so much more pleasant. Damian really could be the demon that some of his siblings called him when Colin wasn't with him. That's why Barry was looking forward to their wedding. It basically made it official that anywhere one of them went; the other would go as well. Which meant the world would be a happier place because when Damian's happy, the world is happy.

Just then, the doorbell rang again and Barry jerked it open to be faced with Jay and Joan Garrick. The two smiled warmly at him and Joan hugged him, Jay going for a simple handshake. Then Wally's voice broke over din of the living room, "Grandpa Jay! Grandma Joan!" and a little red headed ball of super speed rushed towards the entrance hall again, wrapping himself firmly around his "grandma's" waist and then his "grandpa's" waist. No one was entirely certain when the Garricks (probably Joan) convinced the child to call them by that particular honorific, but no one really cared because the child didn't have any actual grandparents, so who were they to take this away from him. Jay ruffled his hair and Joan cooed at him even though he was fifteen years old and much too old for that sort of thing. Then Iris was there, graciously taking Joan's cookies (which were, according to Wally, the only cookies that could possibly rival Alfred's) and ushering them all into the living room where they spent the next half an hour talking and smiling and laughing, sharing stories of superheroing and sharing stories of just regular day to day life.

Finally, dinner was ready and they all relocated to the dining room with its specially set up table that would fit the rather large assembled group.

As they were all several minutes into their meal, Jay asked, "How's college going for you, sport?"

Wally tilted his head towards the first Flash and grinned, "I love it! The lab they have there is amazing! The only thing is that the chemistry class is a little boring. I'm trying to get moved up a level because they're still teaching us about titrations and kinetics. I learned all that stuff in high school! I don't need it again."

"I'm not quite sure what you're talking about with that chemistry jargon, but I'm glad you're enjoying yourself. Has your girl come to visit you recently?" Jay responded.

"Yeah, Artemis came over to that house Bruce bought me and we hung out for a while. She tries to come once a weekend, but you know how inconsistent date night can be when you've got a superhero in the relationship, let alone two." Wally answered around his food.

Barry choked out, "Bruce bought you your own house? When did that happen?"

"It happened as soon as I got accepted into that college in Palo Alto. I didn't really want to stay in a dorm with someone at least three years older than me, so the whole family went down there and looked for a house. It certainly isn't any Wayne manor, but it's a relatively nice little one story house. I really like it." Wally grinned in response.

Jay chuckled at the dumbfounded expression on Barry's face and then continued to question Wally, "You gonna have that girl of yours move in when she's old enough?"

Wally blushed a deep red and groaned, "Grandpa Jay… I'm too young for that kind of stuff."

"What? By the time she's eighteen, you'll have just turned sixteen. That's plenty old enough for her to move in with you." Jay laughed. Barry couldn't help his own laughter at the deep blush on Wally's face as he sullenly stabbed his food. That's when Barry realized that everyone else was moving really slowly and they were all looking at the three speedsters with confusion. Jay and Wally suddenly realized the same thing, each of them adopting sheepish expressions as they all slowed down to be on time with everyone else. They had moved into super speed talk without even realizing it. All three of them reached their arms behind them and rubbed their neck in embarrassment. Iris and Joan just laughed.

Five hours later found Iris and Barry saying goodbye to the Waynes as they piled back into their honest to goodness limo. Joan and Jay had left a while ago, claiming their old age made it necessary for them to get to sleep sooner. Wally hung back as the others climbed into the car. He hugged first Iris and then Barry before turning his head in their direction. He smiled a little sadly and said seriously, "I love you guys. You told me when I first came to this house that I would love being your nephew and that you'd be the best Aunt and Uncle ever and you guys were right. I don't tell you enough how much I love you and, well, today is Thanksgiving and this is me giving my thanks to you guys for always being there and always being the best Aunt and Uncle ever. Thank you so much."

Barry swept his wonderful nephew into a hug, smiling as Iris did the same, her eyes filled with unshed tears of happiness. Barry murmured into soft red hair, "We love you too, buddy. You're the best nephew we could ever ask for and every day spent with you in our lives is wonderful and beautiful and we love you so much. Thank you, Wally." Iris sniffled and the three laughed slightly before they all separated. Wally smiled at the couple and wiped away a suspicious wet spot on his cheek. Barry smiled back at him as the younger speedster walked to the limo and got in, waving the entire time. Then Barry kissed Iris and they went back into the house. They truly were blessed.

WHEN WALLY WENT ON A DOUBLE DATE

Dick was nervous. Correction: Dick was very nervous, almost as nervous as when he and Wally told the Team their identities. This was his first date with Zatanna. He'd finally worked up the courage to ask her on a date a week before and he'd decided that his best bet would be to do a double date. Him and Zatanna and Wally and Artemis. He knew that Artemis and Z were best buds, so that should help ease any tension, right? Well, it'd ease hers anyways. He was still completely turbed and felt as if he'd faint from the nerves.

Then Wally laughed and said, "Relax, dude. You'll be fine. You like her and she likes you and you're totally not alone. It's not going to be super awkward and you're not going to stumble over your words. The food will be fine and she's not going to ignore you in favor of talking to Artemis. She's not going to die on the way to the restaurant and she's not going to hate you for having Artemis drive her here instead of picking her up yourself. You're fine." His younger brother addressed all of his worries in a calming and confident tone and Dick could feel some of his nerves drifting away. Wally was right; he had this. Everything was going to be fine.

Just then, two girls were led to their table and they sat down across from the two boys. Dick couldn't keep his eyes off of Zatanna. She had on a beautiful red dress with a swooping neckline and a black ribbon around her waist. The skirt flared out slightly and stopped midway down her shins. Her hair was elegantly done up and held in place by a bright red flower. All in all, she was beautiful and Dick couldn't help himself from saying, "You look stunningly gorgeous."

Once he realized what he said, he flushed bright red and coughed slightly, but then noticed that Zatanna was just as bright red as he was and she giggled softly before thanking him and complimenting his experience. Artemis flashed (pun unintended) Wally a look before saying, "Why didn't you give me a compliment like that when we first started dating?"

"Because I can't see you to know if you're stunningly gorgeous or not. For all I know, you could be some ugly hag and I'd never notice." Wally answered easily. Artemis swatted at him and rolled her eyes, but it was obviously playful. They really were head over heels for each other and it was adorable.

Oh gods, did Dick act like this around Z? Was he this obviously in love with her? Was he in love with her? The billionaire's son was broken from his existential crisis when Zatanna cleared her throat softly and said, "Hey Dick, you there?"

He blushed again and answered quickly, "Yeah, sorry. I totally just spaced out there for a second. So, uh, I heard you and Artemis went shopping earlier today. How was that?" Lame! That was super lame! He could hear the smug note in Wally's voice from where he was talking to Artemis and he wanted to bludgeon his younger brother's head in with a batarang. He saw the flash of a light to the side of him and glanced there curiously out of the corner of his eye, but he didn't see anything further.

Zatanna, meanwhile, was answering his question, "It was a ton of fun! It's great to just act like girls sometimes. Even if we did go to that new arcade they opened up and beat a ton of jocks that were playing one of those zombie shooting games." She gave Dick a grin and he returned it.

Then Artemis let out a bark of a laugh and said, "When kid mouth here and I started dating, you know, before that day at the mountain," she was referring to the day when they gave out their secret IDs, "I convinced Wally to take me to the Central City arcade for a date. I made fun of him the entire time for how bad he was at those shooting games. He was lucky if he was even aiming at the game! I just thought he was a ridiculously bad shot."

Wally was pouting, "Yeah well, it's hard to shoot the zombies or animals or whatever on the screen when you can't see the screen. I couldn't even hear them walking on the screen! It was so hard!"

Zatanna and Dick laughed before Z said, "I didn't even think about the fact that you can't play video games. And you had to pretend that you could because she hadn't known that, you know, at the time."

"Well he certainly didn't give away any hints." Artemis sent Wally a slightly sour glare.

He shrugged before responding, "Hey, you couldn't know at the time that I was secretly a billionaire to be."

"If you inherited the money, would you be a billionaire? I assume Mr. Wayne would just split the money up and there's so many of you…" Artemis postulated.

Wally assumed a hurt expression, "Are you saying you won't date me if I'm only a millionaire, Arty?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying." Artemis responded blithely.

Wally acted like he'd been shot, so Dick decided to focus back in on his own date, "I'd love to see those zombie shooting skills in action someday."

"It's a date, then." Zatanna answered breezily. Dick, for his part, was frozen. He was pretty sure he saw another flash and heard a click, but he didn't have the mind power to go investigate it. Was he just… did he just manage to get a second date before they'd even ordered their food? Did that count? Why was this so much more nerve-racking than any other date he'd been on before?

Dick was brought back into reality when a waitress stopped by their table and kindly asked which drink they would prefer. Everyone answered quickly and the waitress smiled before leaving. They were at a relatively low profile restaurant. Well, it seemed low profile. If one looked around, they'd probably recognize some of Gotham's most elite teenagers. These were the children who'd been thrown into the spotlight of the paparazzi just by being born. These were the teens who just wanted to be left alone and have a nice, low key dinner with their date or friends without being ambushed by reporters and sleaze bags who just wanted money or the latest scoop. It was especially nice when one had a date who wasn't already famous (aka Artemis and Zatanna) and one didn't want to throw them into the spotlight. This was a good way of keeping the press from getting wind of the Wayne children's new 'playthings'. Dick saw some teens across the room catch his flowing gaze and nod to him, a silent greeting and a promise to not tell all in one. He returned the gesture and returned to chatting amicably with Zatanna. He found that it was easier than he thought it was going to be. It was just like talking with her when they were at the Cave just with better food.

Finally, the group of four exited the restaurant, Dick placing his coat around Zatanna's shoulders and looping his arm through hers and leading her to the front. Wally had his arm out to his side, bent slightly at the elbow, and Artemis had her arm curled under it to meet with her other hand on top of his arm. It was almost like she was hugging it and it allowed the two of them an excuse to stay snuggled close together. Artemis gently guided Wally through the doors and onto the corner. Dick figured that she knew that Wally tried to shut down his heightened senses as much as possible because it could get overwhelming sometimes and this was the archer's way of helping Wally to deal with it. He could rely on her to lead him instead of his senses. That showed a lot of trust in their relationship.

Then there was the strange flash of light followed by a clicking sound again. He'd been hearing it all evening and it was driving him crazy. He finally burst out, "What is that?"

Wally and Artemis stopped in their conversation and Wally's head tilted slightly towards Dick, "You mean the light and the clicks?" At Dick's affirmative noise, Wally continued, "Tim and Cass have been trailing us and taking pictures the entire evening. Bruce's probably got cameras trained on us and Damian's probably hacked into Bruce's computer and it watching it with Colin. Jason's across the street with high res binoculars and he planted bugs at our table earlier. He's been watching and listening."

Zatanna turned to Dick with something akin to horror in her eyes and Dick groaned, burying his head in his hands, "I hate my family sometimes."

"At least you're not doing it in costume in Central." Wally muttered. At Z's questioning grunt, Wally said, "Uncle B asked the owners of the restaurants or arcades or whatever to spy on us and give him reports. He called it their civic duty. Plus I had the whole Wayne family dropping in – and don't you dare deny spying on me Dick. And that happened on every date! And then, the Rogues sat there and spied on me too! They even insisted on 'bringing my girl to meet the family'. They're not even family!"

"That doesn't stop you from calling them all Uncle and playing darts with James every Friday he's not in jail and taking music lessons from Hartley every Sunday." Dick pointed out and Wally stuck his tongue out in retribution. Dick returned the gesture and Artemis muttered something about boys and immaturity that Wally felt the need to respond to.

Z's voice came from his side, "I really enjoyed myself today Dick, thank you."

"The pleasure's all mine." He answered genuinely. There was a small silence while the couple in front of them continued to bicker about whatever and Dick's mind raced. Eventually, he decided on a course of action and said, "I know it's the just the first date and probably a little early for labels, but… will you be my girlfriend, Z?"

The smile the lit up her face as she answered, "Yes!" made his family spying on him completely worth it. Even if they spied on every single one of his dates, it would be worth it because Zatanna would be there and would be his girlfriend.

WHEN WALLY VISITED UNCLE CLARK

"So… what is it exactly that you do here?" Wally asked from where he was lounging.

Clark looked up at him and answered, "I'm a journalist."

"Don't you find this so… boring?" Wally asked. The teen had been asking questions like this non-stop for the past half an hour. It was almost getting to the point of Clark regretting inviting Wally to come and visit him in Metropolis. He wasn't regretting it yet, though, but only because Wally had seemed so excited about coming and even shadowing Clark for the day at work. After a recent banquet held by Bruce Wayne to celebrate the success of the Daily Planet (a subsidiary of Wayne enterprises), Clark Kent now had a reason to know the Wayne family, so this wasn't too strange. They still got many surprise glances as Clark led the youngest Wayne to his work station that morning and they'd been bothered by quite a few spectators for a while, but then their visits had tapered off and Wally and Clark were left on their own. That was when the questions had started.

Clark answered Wally, "No, not really. This is a way for me to continue to spread truth and justice throughout the city. If I write the articles, then I know that they're true and just and I know that people will start to crave truth and justice. I am trying to help this city become a better place."

"How come you work here and not someplace else? This newspaper is boring." Wally asked.

The Kryptonian pinched the bridge of his nose and thought he caught the glimmer of a smile from the blind teen before it faded away fast enough that Clark wasn't even sure if he'd seen it. He answered, "I like it here. Besides, it was only one that I knew. Perry White, the editor-in-chief, he came to Smallville and got an interview with the Boy of Steel, so I knew this paper. So, I was hired here and I became friends with Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen and then Lana Lang from back home works here too. Besides, it's not boring. Did you know that when the Daily Planet began its publication in 1775, George Washington wrote a guest editorial for the first daily edition. Besides, your dad owns this place. Wouldn't that make it the best source of news ever?"

"First of all, I did not know that and you are officially a nerd for knowing that. Second of all, nuh-uh, just cause Bruce owns this place, it doesn't make it the coolest. The Central City Picture News is the best because Aunt Iris works there." Wally answered matter of factly.

Clark frowned at him, "Well, you call me Uncle Clark, so shouldn't that count for something? Besides, I'm way cooler than Iris."

Wally turned a very serious expression in Clark's expression and said somberly, "Never ever say that within hearing range of Aunt Iris. Or Uncle Barry. Or Grandpa Jay and Grandma Joan. They're scary when they're mad and they wouldn't take lightly to you calling yourself cooler than Aunt I."

Mildly perturbed, Clark turned back to his work, tapping away at his computer, writing up his next story. Jimmy walked past and then stopped, turned, and came back, mouth hanging open in shock. He mumbled, "Wally West-Wayne is here. A Wayne is here… at the Daily Planet… talking with Clark Kent." He was practically gushing at the end and Clark wanted to slam his head against the wall. So embarrassing.

Wally smiled charmingly in Jimmy's direction and said eloquently, "It is a pleasure to meet you! You obviously already know who I am, but there I seem to be at a disadvantage. Perhaps you could give me your name?" No matter how many times Clark saw one of the Bats acting like that, it still startled him. That was so unlike the bouncing ball of speedster energy and innocence the he generally associated with the young hero.

Jimmy beamed and said, "My name's Jimmy Olsen. I'm a good friend of Clark's, right Clark? It's so great to meet you. And I love your hair, too, it's such a great shade of red and… I'm rambling aren't I?" He trailed off with a small chuckle.

Wally grinned and said, "Thanks! Us gingers have to stick together, right? You are ginger, right? I'm pretty sure when Uncle Clark was telling me about you he said you were ginger."

The sunny smile that Jimmy sent Clark once he'd heard that Clark had told the Waynes about him made all the former embarrassment at Jimmy's actions melt away because, well, because Jimmy was his best friend and he needed all the encouragement he could get. After a few more minutes with Jimmy, the cub reporter finally left, having been called away by their boss to go do his work. Wally smiled thoughtfully and said, "You know, Jimmy reminds me of Colin. He's like… the dog version and Colin's like… the cat version. You know?" Clark thought for a moment before nodding, knowing Wally would sense the movement (he wasn't entirely certain how the teen did that, but it didn't really matter to him). That was actually pretty accurate. Whereas Jimmy was eager to please and bright and close up, Colin was languid and curious and stubborn.

There passed another few moments before Clark asked offhandedly, "How's college going?"

"It's going great! It's a little weird being with so many people who are older than me. I mean, I've always had to deal with that, but it's more… pronounced now. I think it's because they're adults and I'm not. I don't know. I still love it though! And there were some scouts from the FBI in the general forensics class the other day and they gave me their card saying that they'd be in touch. The FBI is already scouting me out, Uncle Clark!" Wally enthused, leaning forward in his chair.

Suddenly, Lois Lane's head popped up from around the corner and she questioned, "Would you be willing to let me quote that?"

"Under the clause that puts this company as a subsidiary of Wayne Enterprises, there's a section that states that anything said by a member of Wayne Enterprises or a member of the Wayne family within the building cannot be published, mentioned, paraphrased, or alluded to in any article or new production made by this company or any of its affiliates unless said member of either Wayne Enterprises or the Wayne family gets express permission from Bruce Wayne himself. As I have neither an interest in getting permission from him nor would he give me permission in the first place, I will have to decline." Wally answered quickly. Clark was stunned. There was this celebrity, son of a billionaire side coming out again. It didn't surprise Clark that Wally had the thing memorized; he wouldn't be Wally if he hadn't read everything about his adopted father's company, but the speed at which he pulled that out of his head and the simplistic eloquence with which he delivered it – that was impressive.

Lois seemed to think the same thing as she smiled graciously, accepting her defeat, and commented lightly to Clark, "Quite the nephew you've got there… Uncle Clark." She winked and, before he could protest that he wasn't actually his uncle, she left the room to go report about something.

"I like her. You should start dating her." Wally announced suddenly.

Clark just mock glared at him (momentarily forgetting that he couldn't see) and said, "At the rate people keep barging in to talk to you, I'm not going to get any work done." Wally just laughed.

WHEN AQUALAD BETRAYED THE TEAM

Falcon listened intently as Negative Woman spoke over the comms, issuing commands to anyone who was able to get there fast enough, "Brainiac and Lex Luthor have set Chemo loose on New York City. As some of you know, Chemo is the plastic vessel used to contain chemical by-products of failed experiments. After a failed growth formula was put in the vessel, the formula mixed with other chemicals and brought the thing to life. It has superhuman strength, increased durability, the ability to alter its height, and it can project hazardous chemicals, but it has limited intelligence. It is believed that this might be some ploy of the Light, but our only evidence is a convenient lack of other members of the Light in the area, the involvement of Lex Luthor, and an abandoned Cadmus facility on Chemo's warpath. I want Falcon, Aqualad, and Aquagirl to stay by the water and keep him out. If he got his hazardous chemicals into the water, New York City is in serious danger. The rest of you, stay with me and we will alternate between fighting him and getting the citizens to safety."

Negative Woman (Wally vaguely remembered that her name was Lieutenant Colonel Valentina Vostok and she had defected from Russia, but he didn't remember much else about her) came off the comms then after hearing everyone answer affirmative to her orders. Falcon sped towards the scent of the ocean, stopping when the smell became almost unbearable; skidding to where his echo locators told him was the very edge. He grinned and nodded his head, "What's up Aqualad, Aquagirl? How's it hanging?"

He heard Tula turn to Kaldur and ask, "How is what hanging?"

Kaldur answered seriously, "It is a question that means how are we feeling." His voice shifted back in Falcon's direction and he stated, "All is well. How is it hanging with you?"

"Yes, please tell us how it is hanging with you, Falcon." Tula said brightly.

Wally answered haltingly, trying not to laugh, "Oh, it's great. It's also good to see you guys again. Tula, you're as lovely as ever. Kaldur, you know I'd compliment you, but I don't want my girl getting jealous." Tula laughed, bright and cheerful and Wally couldn't help but grin in response. Dick once said that hanging around with the pink haired Atlantean was like hanging around with Wally and the blind teen could kind of see that. They were both generally pretty happy and carefree. He just didn't see the point in letting worrying things get you down while you're doing something else. It's only going to distract you and cause more things to worry about, so, he just forgot about them until he was done with everything he needed to do. It was easier that way and he had a feeling that Tula knew it too.

He'd worked with Aquagirl before and even with Garth on occasion and even he (without his sight) could see that they were head over heels for each other, but it still made him sad because he knew that Aqualad was head over heels for Aquagirl as well. It was unfortunate, but it was the truth and there really wasn't anything anyone could do against the cold, hard facts.

After about five more minutes of clearing the area of potential hostages (not that Chemo was capable of the brain power required to think through obtaining hostages), Chemo showed up. Truth be told, Falcon was kind of hoping that Negative Woman and the others would have gotten Chemo before he got here. It wasn't that he didn't want to show off his skills and prove his worth as pure awesomeness, but he knew that the citizens came first and if he got the water... bad things would happen.

The second the living plastic container's unique chemical scent hit Wally's nose, he was off, running to create a small tornado around Chemo. They knew that just blasting him with water and electrocuting the water wouldn't work because he would contaminate the water sample first and the electricity wouldn't conduct as well. So, the three of them had decided on a different course of action. Falcon would create the tornado around Chemo. Aqualad and Aquagirl would fill the tornado with water and, once it was ready, Falcon would stop running in circles and just run straight back where the water soaked wind would follow him slightly and smash into Chemo. Disoriented, the villain wouldn't get a chance to contaminate the water before Aqualad electrocuted it. Then, Falcon would run up behind it and put the special collar that stops its powers from functioning correctly around Chemo's neck. That was the plan at least.

At first, it seemed to be running off without a hitch. Everything happened perfectly until right after Aqualad electrocuted Chemo. What none of them accounted for was the fact that Chemo had been expelling acidic chemicals from its feet as it walked. They didn't take in the fact that this spot, over the water, wouldn't be able to take the weakening from the chemicals and the weight of Chemo falling on it after being electrocuted. Chemo fell thudding into the water.

Falcon and Aqualad were fine with their positions farther out, but Aquagirl wasn't so lucky. She was in the water when Chemo fell in. His top split open and hazardous chemicals spilled into the water; the very thing they had been looking to avoid. Negative Woman flew over to them and Wally could feel the horror rolling off of her in waves. Falcon didn't know what to do. He had no idea. He could try to suction the water towards himself by spinning his arms fast enough, but the free water was likely to come up first, the water burdened by chemicals being heavier and having a harder time getting pulled up. That wouldn't help anyone. If anything, a bunch of flying water would just get in the way and distract the others. He could hear Aqualad pulling the contaminated water out of the ocean using his water bearers. Negative Woman had pulled Chemo out of the water (he, because of his extreme regenerative abilities, was already healed) and was fighting him, pushing him back. Wally knew he'd just get in the way there. That only left one thing to do.

He had to save Tula. Falcon raced towards the water and dived in near to where he heard Tula's erratic heartbeat. It never occurred to him that the chemicals could damage his skin beyond recognition. It never occurred to him that if he swallowed some of the chemical thick water, his powers might be negatively affected. All he cared about was the fact that Tula was still in the water and her heartbeat was fading. She was obviously hurt and needed help. In the distance, he heard Aqualad crying out for him to stop, but he wouldn't. Not until Tula was safe.

Finally reaching her, he pulled the limp Atlantean slightly over one shoulder, cradling her head to his neck and wrapping one of her feet behind his own so she was relatively flush with him. That way he could move faster through the water. He started to feel the skin on his face tingling and burning and he felt his suit dissolving under the influence of horrible chemicals. That was not good. He rushed faster, finally getting an echo saying that the dock is nearby. He pulled Tula over the edge of the dock and rolled her slightly forward before pulling himself up. The sounds of water being drawn up from the ocean had ceased and so had the sound of fighting, only to be replaced by Negative Woman and Aqualad's footsteps slamming closer.

Aqualad ran straight to his fallen comrade and started pulling clean water out of the ocean to clean her off. Negative Woman ran to Falcon first before he waved her off, saying that he felt fine. It wasn't him they needed to worry about. Negative Woman and Falcon listened anxiously as Kaldur continued his treatment, unable to do anything to help, but Falcon knew it was futile. Her heartbeat wasn't getting any stronger and there was no hospital close enough that would be able to treat this. Wally wasn't sure if there even was a hospital that could treat this. Negative Woman asked quietly, her Russian accent bleeding through, "Are you certain you do not need help, Falcon?"

"I'm sure. I'm healing already." And he was. He could feel the skin melding back together and pushing the chemical out. It was not a pleasant feeling. He asked just as quietly, "Are the others who were fighting with you alright? They're not anywhere nearby."

"Black Manta showed up out of nowhere. If it wasn't for him, Chemo wouldn't have gotten this far. This makes me think that this wasn't actually a Light operation. I think this was a Society operation instead. Lex Luthor is the head of the Society and Chemo and Black Manta are both members. This has to be a Society attack, but I still don't know what their main goal was." Negative Woman answered after a pause.

"So you defeated Black Manta?" Wally questioned.

Another pause and then, "No."

Before Wally could say anything else, Aqualad stood up and announced angrily, "I will defeat Black Manta. This is his fault and I will not stand for it."

"Kaldur." Wally murmured. It wasn't like the leader of the Team to be like this. There was so much venom, so much unbridled hatred filling his voice that it was dangerous to be around. A quick analysis of the surrounding area gave Wally his reason. There wasn't a heartbeat coming from Tula anymore. There was nothing there but an empty husk of Atlantean flesh. Wally felt his own heart stutter at the thought. This… this was a friend who'd given her life for New York City. She'd given her life for the land-dwellers when she could have stayed in Poseidonis and continued on with her life in comfort and happiness and she could have had Garth by her side for forever, but she chose to risk her life for this land where people would see that she'd passed away and a vast majority of them would just wonder who Aquagirl was.

Wally shook his head. He couldn't think like that. It was true, but he couldn't focus on it. He had to focus on the people who would remember her in Atlantis. He had to focus on the people who would remember her here, on the land. She'd be given a place of honor among the other fallen heroes and she'd be praised for generations to come. Her heroics, her gentle nature, her bright smile would never be forgotten as long as the Justice League remained in this world.

Falcon was startled out of his thoughts when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He jerked back and grabbed his assailant's wrist, forcing it back slightly before relaxing it again. His shoulders relaxed as he let go and took a step back. It was just Negative Woman. She was trying to get his attention. He tried to give her a sheepish smile, but figured it probably came out as more of a grimace. Her voice was softer than usual when she suggested, "You have a mask that will keep allow you to go underwater for very long periods of time, no? Take Aquagirl's body back to Atlantis and let Aquaman know of her passing. It would be best if a friend were to do this. I will go after Aqualad and aid him in his battle." Her voice, thick with grief, started sounding more and more Russian as she went on, displaying her loss of composure for the world to hear.

Wally nodded morosely and fixed the breathing contraption around his nose and mouth, wincing as it pulled at the still healing flesh. He opened up his gauntlet computer and said, set coordinates for Poseidonis, Atlantis, Throne Room. His goggles started giving him instructions on which direction he needed to go to start getting to his destination. He lightly cradled Tula's body and, once she was secure, he dove into the ocean. Wally then used one hand to select a person to communicate with using his comms. He chose Aquaman and there was a silence during which Wally knew Uncle Arthur would be receiving a signal that said that someone is calling. Finally, his voice came over the comms, Falcon? It is good to hear from you. What is it you need?

Falcon's voice was clogged with tears as he answered, "May I please have a private audience with you and Queen Mera in the Throne Room? It's urgent." He didn't have to worry about getting water in his mouth because the breathing contraption prevented it.

King Arthur's voice was serious and worried when he responded, Of course, Falcon, anytime. Why do you need it now? Is something wrong?

"I'll tell you when I get there. This is better said in person." Wally responded quickly and cut the call. He didn't want to field questions from Aquaman at the moment. He wanted a moment to think. How was he supposed to tell Uncle Arthur and Aunt Mera that the Princess of Poseidonis was dead? How was he supposed to tell them that this wonderful young girl who, after losing her parents, was adopted into a royal family, who spent the first fifteen years of her life in the royal palace, learning and loving, was dead?

In the end, he didn't have to tell them. They had cleared a path for him to get into the Throne Room and the doors locked automatically behind them. The rulers of Atlantis had questioned him with curiosity and a bit of worry before their eyes presumably locked onto the body held in his arms. Mera had fallen to her knees, her hands moving to cover her mouth. Arthur sunk down next to her and held his shaking wife in his arms, frozen for several long moments. Finally, King Arthur came to Wally and took Tula's body, gentle and slow, Mera tagging behind him. Aunt Mera wrapped her arms around Wally while Aquaman placed Tula's body on the raised dais before he came back over to his wife. Uncle Arthur wrapped his arms around Aunt Mera and Wally and they all sunk to the floor together, finally allowing their tears to flow.

It was five days later, after Tula's land funeral that Wally finally got a chance to talk to Kaldur. The two walked into a room, followed by Dick and Artemis. The other members of the Team knew better than to follow them. Wally didn't know the newer members very well since he only stopped by occasionally to either pick up Artemis or his brother depending on the situation. Other than M'gann and Superboy (who were off world taking a tour with Superman while led by one of the Green Lanterns and wouldn't be back for a little while longer), this was the original Team. These were the people who worked until they bled to get this Team to where it was today and they were all drunk with grief. Tula was a friend to every single one of them and they'd all feel her loss keenly.

For a few moments, they all sat in silence, until, hesitantly, Kaldur spoke. His voice was hoarse with disuse and tears, "I am sorry that my composure is not fit for a leader. I have failed you."

They all answered that he hadn't failed him and Wally added vehemently, "You will never fail us. You are always our leader, but, more than that, you are our friend. And as your friend, we know that Tula's… passing is not the only thing bothering you. Something else happened."

When Kaldur failed to answer, Dick pressed, "You know you can trust us, Kaldur."

Wally heard the sound of eyelids closing and then opening and then Kaldur finally spoke, "Black Manta is my father." There was a quick intake of breath from Dick, but other than that, no one seemed upset. Kaldur continued, "I am spawned from one of Atlantis's greatest enemies. I am… my… father killed Tula. My father is evil."

Artemis commented harshly, "Just because your dad's awful doesn't mean you are. My mom was a former villain, my dad's a current villain, my sister's a current villain. I'm still fine."

"My mother's in jail for conspiring with a criminal organization and my father agreed to get himself turned into a genetic monster just so he could kill me. I'm still fine." Wally added.

Dick finished with, "One of my brother's mom was an assassin. My sister's parents were a League of Assassin's member and Lady Shiva. Another of my brother's parents were druggies who couldn't keep track of him. One of Conner's gene donors was Lex Luthor. They're all still fine." Wally frowned to himself. He recognized that note in Dick's voice. He spoke faster and more concise when he was formulating a plan that he thought the other members would need convincing of. It normally wasn't good.

Kaldur responded desolately, "I feel as if I am betraying Tula by living. I fear it is my fault that she has passed. Black Manta admitted that the entire attack by Chemo was the Light's plan to draw me out. Black Manta joined the Light and told them that he was going to get his son to join him. He was going to get me to join them. Because of that, Tula is dead." Wally winced at Kaldur's harsh tone. He obviously wouldn't stop blaming himself no matter what they said.

That didn't stop Wally from trying, "Man, it's not your fault. This is absolutely not your fault! This is what Tula signed up for, what we all signed up for! No matter if Black Manta was there for you or not, there would still be the same result. Nothing would change what happened, so it did not happen because of you. Do you understand?"

"I understand, but my conscience is still not appeased!" Kaldur answered, sounding frustrated.

Dick's voice broke over everyone's thoughts as he said, "I agree with Wally, but I understand what you're saying. You feel like you need to do something to… avenge her. I… I have an idea. I don't think any of you will like it, but it's an idea." Everyone paused before Wally heard the wind whistle in the unmistakable pattern it makes when someone does a go on gesture with their hand. It came from Artemis's direction. Dick continued, "We've been trying to get a handle on the Light for a while now, but no matter what we do, we keep slipping away. It's made up of some of the most dangerous villains any of us has faced and this is them banded together. All of us have lost something to this organization. Kaldur lost Tula. Artemis's family works for the Light now and chances of them rehabilitating moved to zero. Wally lost his trust in his family. I lost Wally's trust in me. We all lost something that's important to us, but now… now we have a way to strike back and avenge our lost things. Kaldur would have to 'betray' the Team and join Black Manta. He would move up the ranks and get more and more information on the Light. Eventually, we'd move another operative in there, probably Artemis because she has skills other than the bow and arrow that won't be easily recognizable as either Bat training or, well, super speed. It would be a very long operation and we couldn't tell anyone else, not even Batman, Flash, Aquaman, or Green Arrow. Not even Superboy and Miss Martian. If we go through with this, it doesn't leave this room and it doesn't leave whatever place we choose as our base of operations. It would be delicate and dangerous, but it would work better than anything else we've done."

There was a long, long pause after Robin's spiel. How could there not be? What he was suggesting was… it was insane! It was terrifying! It was something none of them wanted to consider, but… it was also plausible. It would work. Even though it was insane and terrifying, so was being a superhero. Wally could run faster than the speed of sound and he was blind! Their entire existence was insane and terrifying. Even thought it was something none of them wanted to consider, in hindsight, neither was being a superhero. They didn't choose to be heroes; it chose them. Dick didn't choose to watch his parents fall to their deaths. Wally didn't choose to get struck by lightning and sent into a tub of chemicals. Artemis didn't choose to be born into a family of criminals. Kaldur didn't choose to be the only one who could save the king. This… this was their responsibility. They could do it, so they should. Every plan that the Light successfully operates is on their heads if they choose to not do this thing. Minds made up, all of them looked to each other and nodded.

Two weeks later, everyone watched (or listened) in horror as Kaldur announced that Black Manta was his father and he would be joining his father in crime. He injured some of the newer members and then disappeared into the ocean. It was devastating even for those involved in the conspiracy.

WHEN WALLY HAD HIS FIRST CHRISTMAS AS A BOYFRIEND

Christmas was a rather subdued occasion that year. Tula was dead and Kaldur had supposedly betrayed them all. Wally was heartbroken about lying to everyone, but he understood why they were. He was also already terrified for the day when she would become an undercover agent even though they estimated that it was several years in the making. The only thing Artemis could think of to cheer him up was her present. She watched as Wally opened Bruce's gift for him and smiled broadly, leafing through a small booklet that apparently fit in one of the pockets of his suit. All she saw were blank pages. She must have made some noise of confusion because Wally reached out eagerly for her hand and touched it lightly to the page, moving it around, over an edge, and then another edge and so on before understanding dawned on her face and she laughed. It was a miniature version of the book he had in his room with edged versions of everyone he knew. Now he could bring them with him everywhere.

Then, it was her turn to give him her present. Artemis grabbed the long gift and put it gently in his lap. Everyone watched, curious, because they knew as well as he did what was going to be in there. That is to say, they had no idea. So Wally meticulously peeled off the wrapping paper and a long, plain white box was revealed. Opening it slowly, he must have heard the gasps of surprise when others saw the gift because his brows creased and he started running his fingers across it. Then his eyebrows lifted in recognition and he stood up, spilling the paper and box to the floor. He lifted it up and felt along it, admiring it. Artemis knew how much this gift would mean to him; she knew how much he wanted it and how much it would help him. He leaned over and kissed her and her eyes closed in delight. She loved him so much.

There, held perfectly in one hand, was a new cane that had a dragon resting on the top that, if you pulled the wing open, a catch would release and a sword would pull out of the cane with the wing as the hand guard. It was beautifully crafted and an exact replica of the one Damian gave him all those years ago; the one that had been broken in the battle with his father. It was his cane.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if the date is lame. Having never been on a date, I'm not exactly good at writing them.


	25. Chapter 25

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wow, look at that. Another interlude chapter.

WHEN DAMIAN AND COLIN GOT MARRIED

Damian was nervous. No! He wasn't nervous! He was never nervous. He was Damian Wayne, grandson of Ra's al Ghul, son of Bruce Wayne and Talia al Ghul. He was a powerful killing machine that deigned to leave people with their lives intact and he did not get nervous. He wasn't even disturbed. He was... turbed.

Damian growled to himself. Great, he was so out of it that Grayson's obnoxious drivel was corrupting him. Apparently his defenses had been lowered due to his nervous state. Ugh! He wasn't nervous! Just because he was getting married to Colin didn't mean that he was nervous. Right, getting married to Colin. In light of recent circumstances, Tula's death and Kaldur's betrayal, they figured it was best to get married. It was one of those life is short things. They were both superheroes and Damian was the heir to a several billion dollar company. Something was bound to happen to them some day and, well, he didn't want to face that fact, but he'd rather have been able to say that he was married to his beloved before that happened. Wally's voice softly broke into his thoughts, "You're nervous, aren't you?"

Curses! He'd finally convinced himself that he wasn't nervous and now he was back to square one. He answered flippantly, "Tt," before turning back to what he was doing. He loved Colin and he knew that. He… well, he hadn't exactly been taught to marry for love. He was taught to either marry for politics, or have a child with a great warrior and this marriage he was about to enact didn't apply to either of those. But, Father always said to marry for happiness and love and he'd always seemed to approve of their relationship, so it'd be alright, right? Mother never seemed to approve, though, and she wanted him to follow in her footsteps. Why didn't he think about all of this before he proposed?!

"Yep. You're nervous. Don't worry, it'll be fine. Don't listen to Aunt Talia. She really does just want what's right for you, but this isn't her life. It's yours. Listen to what your heart says. I know that if Colin's taught you anything, it's how to listen to your heart." There was a pause where Wally just smiled sweetly at him before continuing, "And I'm pretty sure you're heart is saying to marry Colin."

Damian scowled and muttered vindictively, miffed that Wally could see through him that easily, "Why don't you marry Artemis then, huh?"

"I'm not old enough." Wally shot back simply.

Damian raised an eyebrow at his brother, curious, "But you would marry her if you were old enough?"

"What?! That- that's not what I said! I mean, that's- it's not – I don't know. I hate you." Wally finished, crossing his arms in a pout as he heard Damian's quiet laughter. Damian just smirked at him before going back to thinking. He wanted to marry Colin. That much was obvious. He would do anything to stay with his beloved for the rest of his life, but this decision wouldn't just affect him. What about Colin? Why did he even say yes in the first place? Damian was a monster and a failure most of the time and was a grumpy, hot tempered fool the rest of the time. Who would want to dedicate the rest of their lives to that? Wally's voice broke his train of thought again, "Seriously though, dude. You want to marry Colin and Colin wants to marry you. I don't see the problem."

"Are you sure?" Damian asked quietly. He elaborated when Wally tilted his head to the side, "Are you sure Colin wants to marry me?"

Wally gave him an expression that was obviously questioning his sanity before answering primly, "Of course I'm sure."

"But how do you know?" Damian pressed. If it was anyone other than Wally, Damian would have never shared his insecurities with them. Well, he would normally share them with Colin, but this wasn't exactly the sort of thing Damian could talk to his fiancé (soon to be husband) about.

Then that soft smile settled on the blind speedster's lips again and he responded gently, "I can tell from the way his heartbeat picks up when you come in the room. I can tell from the note of awe and admiration that always creeps into his voice when he talks to you. I can tell from how unbelievably happy and proud he was when you proposed to him. The signs are all there, but they say love is blind. Apparently love is blinder than a blind person." The smile that touched his lips turned a tad wry and Damian wondered like he always did when that smile sat on his youngest brother's face whether Wally was as unaffected by his blindness as he always seemed to be. The youngest Wayne was very forthright and obvious about his blindness and never took offense about it, even going so far as to make fun of himself, but moments like this made Damian wonder if it wasn't all an act. What must it be like to have never seen one's family? He had only the faintest idea of what they looked like and… and that was heartbreaking. He didn't know what his friends looked like, or his girlfriend, or his 'uncles'.

Damian was broken from his musings one last time when Jason announced monotonously, "They're ready for the groom." Todd didn't look like he wanted to be there at all and that made Damian feel a little better. He straightened his tie and stood up confidently, ruffling Wally's red locks as he passed, ignoring the indignant squawks from the red head.

What seemed like hours later, Damian and Colin were standing in front of each other and being asked to tell each other their vows. Colin was stunning in his beautiful and crisp suit, his expression bright and open and a smile twisting the corners of his face so it seemed like nothing dark could ever enter their lives ever again. Damian knew he would remember this moment for the rest of his life. Finally, Damian spoke, staring intensely into Colin's eyes as he did so, "I vow this to you, beloved. I vow to cherish every second we spend together and wait anxiously for when we reunite every time we are apart. I vow to dedicate my every waking moment to you and our love and to never think a bad thought about you, not that I believe there is a bad thing anyone could think about you. I vow to be your savior and your husband and your protector and your love. I vow to do whatever you ask of me and to be yours until eternity crumbles and even after that. I vow to love you throughout this life and all others and I vow to be yours, completely and unequivocally."

With tears in his eyes and his voice, Colin responded, "I vow to be the perfect husband to you and to do my very best to make you happy all the time. I vow to help you whenever you want it and even sometimes you don't and I vow to make your life as wonderful and bright and cheerful as my world is whenever you step into a room. I vow to be yours." Colin's vows were shorter than his, but Damian felt like they said so much more. He felt like something was clawing its way up his throat and realized distantly that it was because he was about to start crying. Were these… tears of happiness? Was he that happy? Then the officiator of the ceremony announced them husbands and said that they could kiss to seal their marriage and Damian did so with gusto. This was… this was what he'd been waiting for all his life. As if that kiss, that eternal seal of their holy matrimony, was the key to open a gate, emotions came flooding in. Everything looked wonderful, bright, and cheerful and Damian noted that Colin was already bringing his vows to fruition. It was amazing.

Many hours later found the couple leaving the venue, fitting themselves into the car that had been procured for them. The driver would take the two of them to the airport where they'd get on one of the Wayne family jets and fly to Vlatava. Wally's wedding present to the couple was a honeymoon in Vlatava where they would stay in the palace, one of the guest rooms dedicated to nobility. Apparently Wally had saved Queen Perdita's life at some point and she'd granted him knighthood and named him a noble of Vlatava. The two had become close friends and Queen Perdita was even building him a small castle. Damian wasn't entirely certain when all of that happened, but in the long run, it didn't really matter. All that mattered was the bright smile that lit up Colin's face because he'd always wanted to go to Vlatava apparently and he was beyond excited.

Damian watched Colin as he waved to the gathered crowd outside, drunk on happiness. He observed the contours of his beloved's neck as he laughed; he noted the smile lines decorating his face as he grinned at the Wayne family. He watched the twinkle in Colin's eyes sparkle and twist as he responded to something Hal Jordan said; he memorized the dainty, cute features as Colin's face twisted in surprise because Talia smiled at him for the first time. Completely ignoring the waiting people outside, Damian leaned over and kissed Colin passionately, powerful. Colin made a little noise of surprise that reminded the former assassin of a startled cat before he practically purred, melting into the kiss. It was perfect.

Finally, the car drove away, leaving Damian with a parting vision of Wally's knowing smirk.

WHEN JINX AND ORACLE BECAME MEMBERS OF THE TEAM

This was… this was something else. Jinx knew that Falcon was willing to help her join the hero side, but this was a lot. He had set her up with a mentor (Zatanna; how cool was that) and had even managed to get her on a team. Actually, as far as she could tell, the team was actually called the Team. They might be the Young Justice League, but Falcon hadn't been entirely clear on that. It didn't matter anyways. Jinx was offered a home at Mount Justice and she was more than willing to take it. She now had a home, a school (Batman had enrolled her in Happy Harbor High School), a mentor, and a good team that would value her (at least, hopefully). If she was being completely honest with herself, this just solidified Falcon's place as her all time favorite hero. She obviously knew that he was taken and all that, but she'd gotten over her crush forever ago. Now she it was all hero worship. He was… like an older brother. Well, actually, he was like a younger brother that acted like an older brother. It was weird to think that he was younger than her. She'd only recently learned that and had been blown away.

Now, she was waiting with Falcon and some other chick while the rest of the Team came back from their mission. The other chick was in a wheelchair, a soft looking green turtleneck and nice tan dress pants adorning her pale body. Her red hair was pulled into a simple pony tail and she was wearing huge dark glasses that covered a large portion of her face. It was a pretty legitimate way to keep her identity secret. Falcon must have noticed the way Jinx was looking at the girl because he said, "Her name's Oracle. I swear she's nice, but she's just nervous about joining the Team."

The girl, Oracle, glared at Falcon and said primly, "I'm not nervous. I'm just a little apprehensive about how the Team will respond to having a paraplegic join their ranks. Why are you even here anyways? You're not even on the Team anymore!"

"Way to point out a sore spot, thanks Oracle." Falcon pretended to be wounded and Jinx smiled politely. She was a little jealous of their easy interaction if she was completely honest. Then Falcon turned to her, "How about you Jinx, nervous?"

She scoffed and stuck her nose in the air, "Of course not." She faltered at the glance he gave her and continued quieter, "Um, well, I'm sure they'll understand that I'm rehabilitated now and that I'm not, not a threat. You know…" She trailed off kind of lamely and felt her cheeks tint a pale magenta. It was going to be fine, she was sure. Falcon said it was going to be fine, so it was going to be fine. That's just the way things go.

Then Oracle smiled at her and said kindly, "Even if they don't feel safe around you or if they mess with you, you can trust that I'll have your back. Us new members gotta stick together, right? Besides, if they're mean to you, I can just dig up something about their past and threaten them with it. You'd be surprised about what some blackmail can do." Her smile took on a slightly sharper edge and Jinx was glad that Oracle just put out the proverbial olive branch because Jinx did not want Oracle on her bad side. Ever.

Falcon groaned and said, "You're as bad as Robin when it comes to getting blackmail. The two of you could out hack the world and you love digging stuff up about others and Robin carries that stupid camera around with him everywhere. The amount of blackmail he's threatened me with from that worthless camera is ridiculous."

"That's just because you're too slow to avoid the pictures. You know, I don't think I've ever gotten a blackmail worthy picture of Flash." A new voice stated from the rafters before a figure dropped to the ground wearing a suit eerily reminiscent of Red Robin's from the Teen Titans. This must be Robin then; their leader.

Falcon responded sarcastically, "Ha ha, keep mocking me about that. It's not like I'm not used to being called slow and being lapped on races. It's not like being slower than Flash is a sore spot for me or anything. I love it when people make fun of it."

A tall blond with a quiver on her back wrapped her arms around the slightly smaller speedster and laughed, "I'll keep that in mind. Since you said you love it so much, I might just have to do it more often." That must be Artemis

Falcon groaned and another voice came from the side, "Why is he upset? I thought he said he liked it?" That statement came from a hulking figure that was definitely hot and was wearing a superman shirt, but the colors were wrong. That had to be Superboy.

A sweet voice answered, "That was sarcasm." This one was green skinned with red hair like Oracle and she was floating slightly off of the ground. That one had to be Miss Martian. No doubt about that.

Surrounding the rest of them were other heroes who weren't big enough to have names for themselves yet. The only reason Jinx knew them was because Falcon had briefed her on them before she got there. She saw Beast Boy (he must have transferred from the Teen Titans), Wonder Girl, Blue Beetle, Lagoon Boy, Bumble Bee, and some other tall African American dude she didn't recognize. Then, coming from a separate mission, Zatanna and Rocket walked into the room, smiling and joking around. Jinx felt all the nervousness she'd been keeping at bay sweep around her in earnest, drowning her under the weight of her worry. Would they accept her? Would they take her in? A small hand on her arm stopped her thoughts from progressing farther down that road and she looked down to see that Oracle had rolled up next to her and was smiling warmly. Relieved of some of the pressure, Jinx was able to muster up a smile for the gathered group of heroes and was gratified to see some smile back.

Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all. Well, Falcon said it'd be great, so it had to be great. With that, she and Oracle started introducing themselves.

WHEN WALLY AND ARTEMIS'S ANNIVERSARY CAME AROUND

"Hey, hey Arty! Hey! Hey Arty!" Wally's voice invaded her thoughts and Artemis growled in annoyance.

She snapped back, "If you say that one more time, I'm going to stick an arrow up your-,"

Before she got the chance to finish her threat, her mom wheeled herself into the room and set down a huge plate of cookies. Wally had somehow managed to convince Paula Crock to take money from the Wayne family even though the Crock family didn't take charity. Now, though, her mom thought that the only thing she could do to repay Wally was cook him copious amounts of food every time he came over. Artemis was starting to think that Wally came just for the food. Her mom glared at her without any real heat, just a warning, before saying sweetly to Wally, "I'm so glad you came, sweetie. It's always great having you over and I'd like you to know that you can ask for any food you want, alright?"

Wally grinned and responded formally, "The pleasure is always mine Mrs. Crock and any food that you cook is bound to be heavenly. Thank you for letting me invade your house all the time." Wally and Artemis had been dating for two years now, but he'd just met Artemis's mom last year. He somehow met Sportsmaster first and the man had threatened Wally to make sure that he didn't corrupt his baby girl. It was an embarrassing experience for everyone involved.

Her mom smiled warmly and chirped, "Why thank you, Wally. And how about you just call me Paula? I think after all this time it's only fair." Wally's response was a bright smile aimed in her general direction. She'd been cleared to know about his alter ego, so she knew that he'd catch onto more things than most blind people would, so she nodded and waved in a goodbye and left the room.

Artemis groaned and said, "Even my mom's falling for you."

Wally's laugh was bright and carefree as he shot back, "I can't help that everyone loves the Wall-man. Hey, we should go outside. It's nice and warm and bright outside which is, like, a first for Gotham. Come on, let's go out!"

Artemis growled the response she gave the last time he said that same thing, "I'm working on stuff for college and I want to get it done soon."

Her boyfriend groaned and laid down on her desk (by on, she meant on the very top above where even her laptop sat; she blamed Dick for this irritating little habit) before leaping up again, somehow not dislodging anything, and exclaiming, "If you go outside with me for… two hours, I'll not only pay for lunch, but I'll also help you with this college stuff and you know I'll do it fast."

She rolled her eyes, not quite believing him before catching sight of his earnest expression (how he managed to display so many emotions without his eyes was beyond her) and then sighed, loudly, "Fine. But only for the lunch." He whooped and threw a hand in the air. Sometime in their conversation, he'd eaten the cookies, so he brought the plate back to her mom before they left.

Almost two hours later found Artemis and Wally seated together on a bench in Gotham's nicest park. Wally had treated Artemis to a pretty nice lunch and she was full and warm and content to lean on her boyfriend's arm. They could come out in public now that they'd made their relationship public knowledge and Artemis was used to all of the media attention. Still, Wally had led her to a rather secluded part of the park and he'd done it rather sneakily as well. Artemis assumed that it was just habit for him to do this because she'd seen the other Wayne children do the same thing.

Then, without disturbing her place on his shoulder, Wally reached into his coat and grabbed out a small envelope. His voice was hoarse and he croaked on the first word before starting again. Artemis leaned away, apprehensive. Wally was never this nervous. Then Wally continued, "Artemis, we've been dating for two years now and you know that I love you with all of my heart, right?" Artemis nodded hesitantly, worried. He wasn't going to break up with her, was he? No, that wasn't the way someone set up a break up speech. Wally went on, "You said that you're going to a college in Palo Alto and… and I just can't help but ask… well… Ugh! Artemis, I love you so much and it would make me beyond happy if you would come live with me in my house in Palo Alto." He finished in a rush, slightly tapping into his super speed, leaving Artemis slightly confused.

Then what she said really hit her and her mouth dropped open. Was he… serious? Did he really want to live with her? Did her dreams really just come true? She stuttered for a moment and watched Wally's face fall slightly before her mouth caught up with her mouth and she practically shouted, "Of course I'll come live with you! Of course I will!"

"Really?" The worry, the fear that his hope would be crushed was written plainly across Wally's face and it broke her heart.

Artemis's answer was softer this time and she practically whispered, "Yes, really. I love you and I want this more than anything."

Wally smiled and pulled their heads together so their foreheads were resting against each other and their noses were almost touching. His voice was just as soft as he whispered to her, "Cool. Happy anniversary, Artemis."

Artemis froze slightly. Shoot. She'd forgotten that this was their anniversary. Even if she'd remembered, there wasn't anything she could do to top this two year anniversary present. Artemis shrugged to herself and kissed Wally lightly. They'd have years more of anniversaries that she wouldn't forget. And that was all that mattered.

WHEN WALLY MET AN OLD FRIEND IN COLLEGE

Wally was thrown to the ground roughly, hands taking the brunt of the damage as he tried to grab the books that flew out of his hands as he fell. He heard the stupid jocks laughing above him and scowled internally. Even here in Palo Alto, in college, he was still being bullied. He didn't remember a single year of school that came without a bully in his entire life. It was awful, but he endured it because he knew that he was smarter and more powerful and more accomplished than any of them could ever be, even if he couldn't show them all of that. So, he put up with the bullying that came with being blind and being smart and being a nerd and being a 'charity case' of Bruce Wayne's and being several years younger than everyone else. He had his girlfriend here in college and he'd made a couple of friends and he could still go back and visit his family whenever he wanted and he still went to Central every night for patrols, so life was worth getting bullied occasionally.

A rough kick to his stomach made him rethink his latest thoughts, savagely imagining punching one of them at super speed (holding back obviously because he wouldn't want to rip their heads off or something like that). He was still scrambling for his books, but since he couldn't see them and he didn't hear where they landed due to trying to stop himself from falling, he had to just reach out and kind of flail his arms around to find his stuff. He felt the breeze from another arm aiming for the back of his head, but suddenly, there was someone there, grabbing the hand of Wally's assailant and holding their arm back. A deep voice announced, "You've had your fun. Leave him alone." Apparently he was someone big in the popular circles because the bullies left immediately and then Wally could hear pages rustling as two pairs of hands found his books and helped him up gently.

He smiled sheepishly in their direction and rearranged his books so he was holding his cane correctly and said, "Thanks, I owe you."

The deep voice that had spoken earlier responded nicely, "It's really no problem. They're just dumb jocks who don't know what to do with themselves now that they've realized that they're actually second rate athletic students." Wally could practically hear the eye roll.

And then there was a gasp from his other side as whoever else who'd been helping him exclaimed, "You're name's Wally West-Wayne?"

If Wally had functioning eyes, he would have been rolling them at that point. Great, another Wayne groupie. He answered as nicely as he could, mindful of the fact that these two just helped him, "Yep, that's me. May I know my savior's names?"

The girl who'd gasped had a voice filled with barely concealed disappointment as she answered his question with a question, "You don't recognize me?"

"I'm starting to feel like I should, but your voice isn't really clicking with my memory." Wally answered, confused. Suddenly the guy who'd originally stopped the bullies gasped with recognition. Wally was really confused now.

The girl continued, still sounding a bit sad, "Oh, sorry about that. I, um, I'm Linda Park, you know, from Blue Valley."

"Linda?!" Wally exclaimed, "I had no idea! I'm so sorry! I didn't have to rely so much on voice recognition before I was blind and I didn't get a chance to talk to you after I was blind. It's been years since I've even heard from you!"

"Who's Linda?" Artemis's voice suddenly came from the side. She must have noticed that he was late to lunch and come to his usual path to investigate.

"This is Linda!" Wally pointed in what he hope was Linda's direction and continued, "She was my only friend when I still lived in Blue Valley and could still see! She was, like, the only reason I had to keep going in life. She's amazing! I'm not sure who the dude is, though."

The guy laughed sheepishly and said, "I'm Linda's older brother, John Park Junior."

"Wow, I didn't know you had a brother, Linda! It's still so surreal to be seeing you again all this time later." Wally grinned.

Artemis suddenly said, "Oh! This is that girl in those pictures you have on your desk, right? You said that those were the only pictures you saved from your old house, right?"

"Yep!" Wally announced brightly.

Linda's voice was practically soaked in embarrassment when she spoke again, "You still kept those pictures even after all these years? And you really thought that much of me when we were kids? And, um, who's that?"

Wally smiled at Linda and said, "Of course I kept the pictures. Even though I can't see them, I still know they're there and that's all that matters. And of course I thought that much of you. You were sweet and kind and that was something that I didn't really get anywhere else. No one else at school liked me and with my parents being the way they were, well, you were the only person who seemed to like me. And this is my girlfriend, Artemis. You dating anyone yet, Linda?"

"Uh, yeah, I'm dating this really nice guy named Rick Shavers. He's really sweet. And, well, thank you so much for remembering me! That means a lot!"

"Wait," John's voice interrupted whatever Wally had been planning as a response, "If you were in the same grade as Linda, then how come you're in college? Or are you just visiting like she is?"

"I skipped a couple of years of school, so I graduated early and came here to college. I'm two years in." Wally answered breezily, not expecting the answer he got.

Linda blustered at him, "I always knew you were too smart for the rest of us! I'm so proud of you Wally!" She hugged him enthusiastically and handed him a slip of paper before skipping away to stand next to her brother, "Well, I just gave you my phone number and address. Um, you'll have to get your girlfriend to read it in hindsight. I'm so sorry! Anyways, don't be a stranger!"

"And if you ever need help with bullies again, let me know." John added and the two Parks left to go to, presumably, a lunch off campus.

Wally sat there for a moment before saying, "Huh."

WHEN WALLY GOT A DOG

Damian showed up at their door with a blank expression on his face and a large present in his hand. Colin was practically hanging off his back, a bright smile on his face as he asked if Wally was there. Artemis led them to the kitchen where Wally was currently working on his homework and mused on his brother's relationship. Artemis never really got Colin and Damian. They'd been engaged (and then married) the entire time she'd known them, but they seemed so unbelievably different that she wasn't entirely certain how they clicked. According to Wally, the two had been dating since ever before he'd moved into the family. According to Bruce, the two had been dating since they were twelve. How did they have such a committed relationship that was so powerful when they were so different?

She was broken from her thoughts when Wally asked curiously, "Since when did you have a dog, Damian? And what is it in?"

"What, you can't smell it's gender or something like that?" Damian asked darkly.

Wally's brow furrowed and he answered slowly (or as slowly as he could), "No."

Colin laughed and said excitedly, "Dami's just sour because he didn't think about the fact that you'd guess our little home welcoming present before I reminded him. So, when you actually realized it before he was able to present it to you, he started pouting."

"I'm not pouting, beloved." Damian announced sourly. Colin just giggled.

Wally said, "So, can we let the dog out of the container before it, like, dies or something? Thanks for the dog by the way Dami and you too Colin! I've always wanted one. You're cool with having a dog, right Arty?"

Artemis just sighed and said, "Yep. What are we going to name it?" She knew that Wally was already attached to the creature despite not even have touched it yet. Plus, she'd always wanted a dog herself. They could deal with a dog.

"Depends what gender it is and since I can't smell the gender, I guess we'll have to rely on our kind benefactors to tell us." Wally snorted. Artemis barked out a laugh with him.

Damian paused from his opening of the present to give Wally a rather terrifying Bat Glare (that was totally wasted based on Wally being unable to see it) before commenting offhand, "Boy."

"We could name him Nelson." Artemis suggested. Her neighbors used to have a dog named Nelson and she'd loved that thing.

Wally frowned and shook his head, "That reminds me of Kent Nelson. I don't think I could have a dog named that." Artemis winced and Colin sent her a confused glance. She waved her hand in a tell you later motion.

"You could name him Brucely." Damian announced. "Father will love that."

Wally grinned and Artemis sighed before capitulating. It would be funny to see how the infamous Batman would react to that and, besides, Artemis didn't want to say anything that would wipe that grin from Wally's sweet face. Her boyfriend whooped before high-fiving Colin and then hugging Artemis. Then Damian finally got the box open and let the dog out. Artemis couldn't help the burst of laughter. Wally tilted his head to the side and Colin and even Damian were grinning. Artemis told Wally through spurts of laughter, "They… got us… a… seeing eye dog!"

"You did not." Wally accused, but Colin's laugh told him the answer right away. Wally sighed and shook his head, "What breed is Brucely? And I take back any nice thoughts I was thinking of you, Dami. Not Colin, you're still amazing." Colin grinned triumphantly and Damian attempted to scowl at his husband, but it turned into a fond glance and then a small kiss. Weird.

Artemis finally answered, "Golden Retriever."

Wally grinned and got down on the floor next to their new dog, rolling on his back and petting it happily. Brucely flopped onto his back and started waving his butt from side to side. Artemis just glanced at them fondly and said, "Look at my two boys, all grown up."

WHEN THE TEAM IS INVITED TO JOIN THE JUSTICE LEAGUE

"We want all of you to join the League. Well, except Falcon because he's too young. Sorry, kid." Flash clarified.

All of the original members of the Team (including Zatanna and Rocket but, sadly, excluding Aqualad) were gathered in the front room of the Cave and they were staring at their mentors in complete confusion. They wanted them to join the League? Did someone take some drugs or something? Well, Artemis mused, they did all just finish turning eighteen (did Supey count in that), so it did actually make pretty good sense that they would be invited since they were old enough and they had shown that they were by far capable enough, but… well, this was still pretty amazing.

Zatanna gushed quickly, "I would love to join the Justice League. Thank you so much for this opportunity! I'll have to rework a schedule with Jinx for her training, but it'll all be fine. I can't believe… I mean, wow."

Robin shot her a smile that was so sickly sweet it made Artemis's stomach churn a little but then she realized that Wally probably sent her the same type of smile and she probably smiled sweetly back at him, so she really wasn't one to judge. Before anyone could say anything, though, Robin's face dropped and he said slowly, "I… well, I won't be joining the League."

Zatanna cried out, "What?" at the same time that some of the older heroes stared at him with their mouths open. Wally and Batman just smiled knowledgably at Robin. Artemis believed in the Flash's Bat telepathy theory more and more every day.

Robin winced and gave his answer to Zatanna, "I'm the leader of this Team and although I'm sure one of the others would be more than willing and capable of stepping up to the plate and dealing with any problems that came their way, I'm not just going to drop them like a bunch of hot coals the second I get an opportunity for something better. And besides, with Falcon off the Team and Aqualad, well, you know, it's just Conner and me from the original, founding members of the Team and if Conner decides to leave, well I want someone from the original group to stay."

Conner grunted from nearby, "I'm staying. This is my home." He didn't offer any further explanation as everyone stared at him in surprise.

M'gann announced seriously, "I'm staying, too. This was the first place that I've ever felt so accepted and with my boyfriend here… this is where I belong." Artemis winced at the reminder of Conner and Megan's nasty break up and the resulting relationship of Lagoon Boy and Miss Martian. Wally was furious when he found out, but apparently after talking with both members of the former relationship, he sided with Conner and ended up only mad at Megan for ruining their relationship and breaking Conner's heart. Megan and Wally still weren't on the best of terms.

Rocket glanced around at the rest of them and then shrugged saying, "I love it here and I love you guys to death, but I want to be a part of something bigger and less covert than this. I'm accepting your invitation to join the Justice League." Zatanna smiled at Rocket and the two high-fived. Then everyone turned to Artemis.

She licked her lips nervously. This was not how she wanted to tell them this. She had been planning on telling them in a more controlled environment, but this had forced her to tell them sooner. She glanced at Falcon and somehow he could sense it because he smiled and nodded. Artemis nodded back and licked her lips again before speaking, "Actually, I'm going to have to say no to joining the League because… well, because I'm giving up the superhero gig for a little while." Everyone started clamoring for answers, confused, but she raised a hand for silence and continued, "It's not a permanent thing. It's definitely not a permanent thing, but college is taking up more of my time than I thought and, well, I don't have super speed like my boyfriend over here, nor do I have super fast healing. I can't keep up with both at the same time. I just… I'm sure I could if I really tried, but I really want to focus on college so I can keep my grades up and get a job sooner. I'll keep my training up. How can I not when Falcon trains non-stop at home? If I ever want to hang around with him, I have to do it while training." Wally sent her a wry smile and some of the others laughed. Artemis finished, "And I'll always be available if you absolutely need my help. I won't do it unless you need me, but if you do, I'll be there. I was going to tell you later, but you forced my hand here."

There was stunned silence for a few seconds before everyone started telling her that it was okay and that they would absolutely stay in contact no matter what and how they were going to miss her and how she had to come visit all the time and how she was welcome to use their training mats. She just laughed and hugged her girl friends and accepted hugs from the boys and the mentors. Catching Wally's fond and proud smile, she whispered so quietly that she herself could barely hear it, "I love you babe." Wally's enhanced senses easily picked up on what she said and his smile grew and he signed back to her the same words. Artemis sighed happily to herself as she accepted another hug. Life couldn't be better.


	26. Chapter 26

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bart pops up out of nowhere.

BBBBBB

Bart's red-ish brown hair flapped lazily in the wind as he adjusted one last thing on the machine, glancing around him quickly even though he knew he didn't need to. Nathaniel Tyron stood behind him, watching him warily, unsure about what they'd planned to do. Nathaniel spoke hesitantly, "Are you done?"

"Yeah, just finished." Bart answered quickly. He knew that Nathaniel didn't like the plan and he wasn't too sure about it either but as far as he could tell, it was the only choice they had. They needed to save the world!

Nathaniel spoke again, the inhibitor collar around his neck blinking ominously, "Remember, saving the Flash is just the beginning. There's a lot more that you need to do to fix everything. And remember that this is going to be a one-way trip. Once you get to 2016, the time machine will be fried. No coming back."

"Yes mom." Bart sighed. He knew all of this! He knew that this was a huge risk and he could easily die or fail or just… cease to exist, but he had to do this anyways. He absolutely had to do this or so many more would die. He hoped that he didn't change things so much the he ended up not being born. That would suck.

Nathaniel sighed and grabbed Bart's shoulder, looking him the eyes seriously, tears almost glinting to the surface, "Are you sure I can't come with you?"

"I'm sure. The machine only builds one and even if we had built it to fit two, we wouldn't have the correct calculations for it. It would end up who knows when. It'll be fine. Just you wait and see." Bart finished off with a cocky grin, trying to mask his own nervousness. With that, Bart climbed into the machine, suit on and goggled arranged to his preference. He closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths before checking that all of the settings were correct and then, finally, pressing the button that would change his life. A bright light and then, nothing.

Suddenly, he felt a jarring impact as the time machine hit the ground at the exact same spot he shot off from forty years in the future. At least, hopefully forty years in the future. If not, well, he'd be in big trouble. Bart could hear some startled shouting coming from around him and quickly stepped out of the machine, glancing around him at super speed. He was in Mount Justice before it'd been destroyed! Location, check! He glanced around him at the technology and the way the Cave was set up. This should be the right time. It looked like it, but it was hard to tell. Then he saw the three people in front of him. Garfield Logan; more commonly known as Beast Boy. Jinx; former villain turned hero by Falcon. Dick Grayson; more commonly known as Robin or Boy Wonder, part of the dynamic duo and all that. Well, that pretty much solidified his belief that he was in the right time. They all looked to be the right age. Time, check! There, he was golden now! Well, not really since he wasn't sure it was possible for him to become golden unless a golden tan counted and then it was pretty subjective. And he was way off track from his original goal.

"Hiya!" Bart grinned joyfully.

"That machine was the cause of the energy impulse from earlier." Beast Boy whispered quietly to Robin, but Bart still heard. Hm… Impulse.

Robin's voice was cold when he asked, "Who are you?"

Bart grinned and said, "Let's go with Impulse. That's a pretty crash name. I'm a tourist from the future and, of course, the Flash's grandson. You know, wanted to try checking out the past and seeing if everything those old-timers say is true. Crash the mode and all that. I'm sure you know of at least one old dude or gal who just goes on and on and on about the good old days, yeah?" Beast Boy nodded enthusiastically and looked like he was about to answer, but a look from Robin shut him up. That's when Bart noticed the look Robin gave Jinx. And then he noticed the eerie glowing quality of Jinx's eyes. Well, that probably wasn't good.

He had less than a second to move to the side as a large portion of the ceiling fell and hit the spot he had been standing in. Were they trying to kill him? Then he realized that Robin was giving him this weird calculating look that really shouldn't be possible with that mask on. Beast Boy was just staring at him open-mouthed. Cool. It was nice to be hero worshipped sometimes. And then, suddenly, Beast Boy was a cheetah and Jinx's eyes were glowing again, causing some ominous rumbling. Not crash. With not a lot of options left, Impulse ran. The speedster tore around the tower, hoping he remembered the layout well enough from listening to Dick tell him about it when he was younger. Kind of weird to remember that when he was currently running from said man, but… whatever. He ran and he ran.

Bart lost Beast Boy (he really couldn't keep up with a speedster, even as a cheetah) in the showers and promptly lost Jinx in the kitchens. Suddenly, he saw a large clustering of marbles in front of him. Ha ha, put the marbles in front of the speedster. Didn't people realize how rude that was? Quickly changing his path, Bart ran up the sides of the walls and then finally slowed down. He was pretty proud of himself for avoiding the marbles. He knew that every speedster had fallen (literally and figuratively) for that move at some point in their lives. As he relaxed, Robin came out of nowhere from behind him and punched the side of his head. Bart dropped like a sack of stones.

When he finally woke up again, the three he had seen earlier were standing in front of him, watching him warily. Beast Boy was all up in his face, trying to seem intimidating, but ending up looking like a kid showing off for their parents. Jinx was fixing him with a scowl and had her arms crossed defensively. Bart could practically feel the bad energy coming off of her and shivered slightly. She would be a great friend, but a devastating enemy. He was lucky that they were in the Cave and she was hesitant to destroy it even to capture him. He'd heard of some of the things that she'd do and she was powerful. Then there was Robin in the back, narrowing his eyes at him (Bart was not entirely certain how he got the white portions of the mask to get bigger and smaller according to the narrowing and widening of his eyes, but figured that this particular moment was not the best time to ask). Then Beast Boy started talking, "Who are you and how did you get in here?"

"I already answered the first question and for the second question, I would have thought that it was pretty obvious. I came in my time machine." Bart answered smoothly, smiling at them before noticing a clock nearby. Well dang, this was bad. He really needed to get going if he wanted to intercept Grandpa Barry's fight with Neutron.

Beast Boy stuck a finger in Bart's face and narrowed his eyes, "Wrong!" Everyone stopped and stared at him, but he just kept going, "That was only one question because I asked it in one sentence! So ha!"

"What, exactly, does that prove?" Jinx asked, rolling her eyes.

"He's guilty!" Beast Boy answers proudly.

"Of what?" Jinx presses.

"…stuff." Beast Boy responded sullenly.

Jinx rolled her eyes again and muttered, "Moments like this make me regret that I joined the good side." Beast Boy gave her a side long look and Bart couldn't keep himself from smiling. None of the stories he'd heard had told him about how sarcastic Jinx was or how pretty she was. Her skin was such a unique shade and that bright pink hair was styled perfectly with those gorgeous eyes. No! He couldn't let himself get distracted again. He was really bad at that in hindsight.

Robin finally stepped up and said, "Why don't you have some water." It wasn't a question.

Bart grinned and said, "Don't mind if I do." He knew that Robin only wanted his DNA, but if it would help convince them of his identity, then he didn't mind. All he had to do was prevent his grandfather's death and stop Blue Beetle from becoming evil and helping the Reach to enslave them all. No biggie. He continued on, "So, Dick, how come you haven't joined the Justice League yet? You totally should give it some thought. It might do you some good." When Robin started spluttering and Beast Boy and Jinx gave their leader an odd look, Bart winced and said sheepishly, "Oops, sorry. Spoilers." He brought a hand up behind his neck and rubbed it, watching as Robin's white part of his mask widened minutely. What about that action was so weird? Bart continued talking because he was starting to be unnerved by Robin's looks, "In the future, secret identities aren't that big of a deal anymore. And you guys all tell me stories all the time. Like, I know that the first time Falcon met Jinx, he ran to a French store and bought a croissant for her." Jinx's cheeks heated up magenta and Bart couldn't help but get distracted again.

Then, suddenly, someone arrives and everyone turned around to look at him. Well, everyone except Bart who'd quickly vibrated out of his handcuffs and was already running. There was no way they would be able to catch him and he doubted they'd be able to track him fast enough to stop him from doing this. He was going to save Grandpa Barry if it was the last thing he did! Well, regretfully, he might end up not saving him just because if it did come down to his life or Flash's, well… Bart, now Impulse, was the only one who knew about the future. Could he really abandon the future just to save his grandfather? Or was saving his grandfather vital enough to the future that just saving the man will save the future? Ugh, who knew? He really should of thought of this stuff when he was still in the future and not when he was barreling through the streets, tearing towards the Garrick household where he knew they'd be on this day, the day of the Flash's death. He'd heard the story before and made sure to memorize everything about it so he knew what to fix this time around.

Bart finally stopped after he ran into a room. Everyone stopped and turned to look at him. Grandpa Barry had a dumbstruck look on his face and Uncle Wally had a phone in his hand. Man it was totally weird to see Uncle Wally with his blind person glasses on. By the time Bart came around, everyone knew that Falcon was blind and that Falcon was Wally West-Wayne, so Uncle Wally just wore his goggles around everywhere. He always claimed it was easier. Wow, it was weird to see all of them so young. Bart shrugged to himself and exclaimed, "Great Grandpa Jay! Great Grandma Joan! Uncle Wally! Grandma Iris! Grandpa Barry!" He hugged each one as he named them. The look on Uncle Wally's face was priceless. He looked like someone had just stabbed him.

Then suddenly Grandpa Barry was talking, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, kid. There is no way you're my grandson, uh, Impulse I think they said. You can't be my grandkid because I don't have kids."

Bart threw in a quick comment about his name being Bart Allen before Grandma Iris told Grandpa Barry, "Actually, Barry, I'm pregnant. I just found out this morning and I was going to tell you later, after we finished celebrating their seventieth wedding anniversary."

"Ooh," Bart started, leaning down to look at Iris's belly, "Hi dad! Hi Aunt Dawn!"

"Twins?!" Grandma Iris shrieked, Barry's face slowly paling and contorting into mild horror. Grandma Iris continued, "We're going to have twins?!"

Bart winced again and muttered sheepishly, hand coming up behind his neck to rub it softly, "Oops, sorry. Spoilers." He really needed to stop that.

Before anyone could say anything to that, Grandma Iris's phone rang and she pulled it out, answering slowly, ignoring Bart asking (practically begging) her to not answer it. She gave confirming answers every once in a while before saying goodbye and turning to her husband, "There's a situation downtown that needs you. Some metahuman causing problems on the corner of Main Street and Williams Road." Grandpa Barry nodded and pulled out his ring, doing the proper steps before the suit flew out and he wrapped himself in it at amazing speeds. Bart almost didn't notice Wally doing the same thing behind them.

Bart stepped forward and laughed nervously. His plans were being shot down one by one. He laughed again and said, "Hey Grandpa, how about you don't deal with that? I'm sure someone else could get it and this is a full Flash family reunion here. How could you want to miss this?"

Grandpa Barry just gave him a look and said, "There are people in danger. I have to go help them." Great. Fan- freaking –tastic. This was not working out. Well, he'd just have to go with his grandfather and try to save him. Here's to hoping it worked.

WWWWWW

Wally wasn't sure what to make of the new kid. Based on the evidence from the DNA, he really was who he said he was, but still. Bart was a speedster, which automatically put him in Wally's good books as long as he doesn't give him any proof of being evil because being a speedster was pretty lonely and the more speedsters around him, the better. When he was surrounded by just speedsters, he felt more human. Ironic really, but what can one do? But then the kid went around accidently giving 'spoilers' for the future which everyone would just glower at him for. And then there was that incident with Neutron. Wally had confronted the boy about it almost as soon as they got back to the Cave and Wally was sure that no one else was listening. He got Bart to admit that he didn't just time travel back to 'sight-see' like he had claimed. He said that he'd come back to save Uncle Barry (well, he said Grandpa Barry… how weird was that) and his time machine broke in the process. Wally knew that he wasn't telling the whole truth, but he could hear from the beating of the boy's heart and the tension in his voice that whatever reason he'd come back for was incredibly dangerous and serious. Bart didn't need someone pestering to reveal what he came back for. Wally would just be there for him for whenever Bart decided that he needed to come talk to someone about it. It was what speedsters always did for each other. Even if they weren't all related (which, admittedly, most of them were), they were still family and they looked out for each other, coming to the others for things that they would never, could never, tell anyone else.

Wally sighed and ran a hand through his hair, idly petting Brucely with his other hand. The gift had been wonderful and Wally and Artemis had cherished the dog ever since they got him. Artemis. That was one topic that he hadn't wanted to think about. At all. For any reason. She was going out on her mission tonight. He knew how it was going to end, but he stayed up and waited for her anyways. This… it just… he always knew that this was going to happen eventually, but still! Why did it have to be at that moment? Dick knew what Wally was planning. Rationally, the young speedster knew that he was being illogical and that what Artemis was doing was vital to world safety. That didn't mean that he had to like it. The irrational part of his mind was complaining that there was no need for this to happen at this particular moment. It didn't have to happen when Wally had finally worked up the courage to propose to Artemis. The ring had been weighing down his pocket that night and he was planning on a romantic evening of watching television and cuddling before he popped the question.

That was interrupted when a phone call came from Dick. He explained that he needed Artemis to come right away and that he needed her on a mission. He mentioned how it would be great if she could be ready by the next day. Wally was furious. He had told Dick just the other day that he was planning on proposing to Artemis that night. Did he really need to call just then? Apparently so because he called and even if Wally had still wanted to propose that night, he wouldn't have gotten the chance. Artemis had run all over the place, getting her gear together and Wally could tell that she'd been waiting for this moment eagerly. How could she be so happy? Why would this get her so excited? She'd been happy in the life they'd been living and now she was going to go undercover in Black Manta's ship for who knew how long and there was a very real possibility that she wasn't coming back.

That's when the phone rang. Wally zipped to his bedroom and quickly hid the ring in his room. He wouldn't get a chance to ask anytime soon. He zipped back to the living room and grabbed his phone, forcing a bright tone into his voice. He had to keep up the act. Dick's voice was strained as says quietly, "Hey Falcon. I… I just wanted to… could you… could you come to the Cave?"

Wally took a stuttering breath and said, "What's this about? Robin, what's going on?"

"Just… come to the Cave." Robin answers. Wally took a deep breath and plastered an expression of confusion and worry on his face, swirling into his suit, before running to the cave.

When he gets there, he notes a ton of heartbeats. There's Dick, La'gaan, Conner, Megan, Karen, Mal, Garfield, Jinx, Babs, Jaime, Bart, Uncle Barry, and even Bruce. Wally made sure that his face curled even further into an expression of confusion. He asked innocently, "What's going on? What's with everyone gathered around? Is it my birthday and I forgot or something?" he didn't any laughter and he smelt the salty water scent of tears traveling down M'gann's face. He mimicked glancing around instead listening to his surroundings. He didn't hear Artemis's heartbeat. He, he knew that he wasn't going to, but it still terrified him. Artemis wasn't here. His voice was slightly choked with worry as he asked, "Where's Artemis? What's going on? Why are you all being so quiet?"

Wally hadn't even noticed Dick coming up to him until he heard the air whoosh and Dick's gloved hand landed on his shoulder. Dick's voice was thick with emotion as he said, "Falcon… Artemis… she's… she's gone. Artemis is dead Falcon."

Apparently Wally hadn't prepared for this. This… this wasn't okay. He knew that his precious love was very much alive and kicking, but this was still a horrible experience. He still felt like it was real. He could still feel the pain that he'd have felt if she'd actually passed. With her not in the room with him and no guarantee of her death, he was freaking out. Dead? She's not dead. Wally repeated that phrase like a litany in his head and ended up saying it out loud on accident. Barry's voice was wrecked when he spoke, "Falcon, I know you want to believe that she's still alive, but… you have to face the facts. I'm so sorry."

Wally barely registered Megan hugging him fiercely, Jinx and Babs soon joining. His panic was increasing. He needed Artemis. He needed something solid to hold onto and understand. He needed… he needed out. Bruce's voice filtered gently through the air, "You need to calm down Wally. You're vibrating too fast." His voice held a note of warning in it and Wally slowed down quickly. He remembered a camping trip where he'd gotten so worked up over a nightmare that he'd vibrated partially through an object and had barely had time to wake up and get the others out before it exploded.

The speedster couldn't help retorting to his adopted father, though. His voice was sharp and slightly hysterical as he practically growled, "Calm down? Artemis is dead! How do you expect me to calm down?" He couldn't see, but that didn't stop him from feeling the pitying stares of everyone in the room. He seriously couldn't handle this. He hadn't thought it was going to be this bad. He couldn't stop thinking of the ring in his room. Without a further thought, Wally ran.


	27. Chapter 27

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Depressing angst with a little fluff. Don't worry, it only gets worse from here.

DDDDDD

Dick wasn't expecting the reaction that Wally gave. He knew that Wally was supposed to pretend to be upset, because, well, who wouldn't be upset when their girlfriend of five years died on a mission? But for him to freak out and say that she isn't dead and to run off at super speed. That was weird. That was exactly the reaction that Dick would have expected his younger brother to have if Artemis had really died. But she hadn't. And he knew that. So what caused him to run off like that?

Robin growled to himself as he made his way to the warehouse in Bludhaven. All he wanted to do was go find his adopted brother and help him feel better, but he didn't have time for this. He'd called Wally to let him know that the meeting was still going down whether or not he was there. It was ruthless, but they were on a deadline and the fate of the world was at stake. It also didn't escape his notice that Wally was mad about the timing of the event, but it was hardly his fault, was it? Black Manta was the one who planned to blow up the rocket on that particular night and the Team hadn't gotten the information soon enough to be able to be picky about when he called. Besides, it was better this way, right? This way, neither of them would be distracted by thoughts of home and their now fiancés. Dick had no doubt that Artemis would say yes to the proposal once she was asked. This way, no one would have to worry about second thoughts on the mission. Well, Wally was already distracted by second thoughts of the mission and had been for a while, but Dick had to ignore that for the time being. Who was he kidding? He was sitting there thinking about how the others shouldn't let emotions distract them and here he was being distracted by emotions. Batman would be ashamed of him if he knew.

The former acrobat resolutely ignored the little voice in the back of his mind that whispered doubts along the line of Batman being ashamed of him for keeping this mission a secret.

To distract (ironic, isn't it) Robin from thoughts of how Batman and everyone else would react once they found out that Artemis was, in fact, very much alive, he pulled out a picture that he kept in one of the most hidden compartments of his utility belt and looked at it smiling. Artemis had a horrified/startled/confused expression on her face that was just priceless and in the background one could just barely make out Wally walking toward them, Sally right next to him. He had an amused smirk settled on his face because he'd heard what had just occurred and was trying his best not to laugh. Sally was just giving him the bemused expression she'd perfected to show her feelings about his many strange quirks. It was a picture of better times where Tula was still alive and Kaldur and Artemis didn't have to go undercover. It was of a time when Wally didn't flinch when he fought alongside them (he'd finally recovered enough mentally to fight with the Bat Clan again, but he still decided to not rejoin the Team because Artemis wasn't on it or even fighting crime and he figured he shouldn't stretch himself too thin, college and patrolling in Central being enough) and tensions weren't strung sky high in the Cave. It was a time where Dick and Wally weren't having an argument that made it hard for them to have a single civil conversation. It was… he just wanted to go back to when life was simpler. It was never simple. He'd lost the chance of a simple life the day he watched his parents plummet to his death. It was simpler back then though and he just wanted that back. Was that too much to ask?

Just then, he heard a noise to the side and he called warily, "Falcon?" When in mask, address others by their superhero names, even in one's own mind. It made life much easier.

Instead of Falcon walking in, though, it was Aqualad who stepped through the small door. Dick's shoulders, tense from the moment of worry he'd experienced when Falcon hadn't responded, relaxed and he smiled, "Kaldur." Well, if he wasn't wearing a mask then he shouldn't address him by his superhero name. That was a confusing rule.

Kaldur gave him a respectful nod and a small smile before pointing to the picture clutched in Robin's hands, "Reminiscing?"

"Something like that, yeah." Robin answered truthfully.

Before either of them could say another word, a female voice filtered through the boxes on the other side of the room, "Aw, isn't that sweet? Looks like the little Robin has feelings." Artemis's face appeared around the corner and she smiled acerbically at him. He grinned a shark's grin back.

Then Wally appeared, his hand held over Artemis's shoulder, tucking her close to his body. Artemis didn't seem to mind because she was curled against him just so, fitting against him in a way that no one else would have been able to accomplish. However cheesy it seemed, they really were made for each other, fitting together perfectly. It made Dick's heart clench painfully as he thought of the long time Wally and Artemis would have to spend apart and the very low chance of survival. He pushed those thoughts away with a firm hand. He couldn't afford doubts now! Why was he suddenly plagued with them? It was ridiculous!

"Here," he said before he could get even more distracted, "this is a Glamour Charm."

Dick handed Artemis a pendant and she held it up to Wally to clasp it around her neck. He planted little kisses above it as he fastened it close. Artemis just quipped, "Isn't my boyfriend supposed to get me the jewelry? Not my boyfriend's brother."

Kaldur laughed quietly and one side of Wally's lips quirked upwards, even Dick letting out a small chuckle. They all knew that she was only making jokes because she was nervous, incredibly so, but they didn't comment on it, instead using her false bravado as a boost to their own morale and confidence. Dick turned serious quickly, though, and continued, "I managed to put in a favor with Zatanna and she made for me so you know it'll be great quality. She asked a couple of questions, but I think I managed to field most of them away without outright lying. Of course, I had to tell a few white lies to get her to make it, but it's for the best. So, once you have it around your neck, it'll change your appearance. Only you, Kaldur, Wally, and myself will be able to see you as you normally are. Everyone will see someone else. Even I don't know what you look like right now. I've been assured that it works on security cameras and normal cameras as well, so that won't be a problem. You'll be leaving with Aqualad today to start your new career as the assassin Tigress. Any questions?"

No one asked anything and he said goodbye to Kaldur and Artemis, politely looking away as his younger brother and best friend desperately kissed his girlfriend as if this would be the last time he would ever interact with her. And then the two undercover agents were gone.

Dick turned to his brother and bit his lip. He didn't quite know what to say. He could see the tense lines of the red head's jaw and he could see the slight tremors in his hand that could be attributed to the speedster vibrating with distress. Or anger; he wasn't sure which. Dick's voice was small when he asked hesitantly, "Wally?"

And just like that, the tense lines fell from Wally's face and his vibration stopped. Wally's face seemed to lose color and frown lines formed, a hollow expression decorating a face too young for such an emotion. His shoulders slumped as if the weight of the world rested on his back and it had become too much to bear. He took a deep shuddering breath before saying quietly, "I'll see you at home." Dick nodded. He got the hidden message in there. Wally would be going back to the manor, but he'd stop at the woods and take a beeline straight towards that tree that seemed to bring him such comfort. Dick would get Damian to come even though they were all much too old for this. Dick, at twenty years old, would climb into the tree after Wally and they would talk for hours until Wally fell asleep and then Dick would bring the youngest down the tree. Damian would carry the eighteen year old back to his room that was still set up exactly as he'd left it when he moved to Palo Alto.

It played out exactly as Dick thought it would and, by the end, Dick was feeling much better about everything and he felt Wally was too. Everything would be alright. They were on speaking terms again and had grown even closer and it would end up alright. Artemis would come home and Wally would propose and everyone would understand why they had to keep the mission quiet all that time. Batman and the other Leaguers would come back from Rimbor scotch free and everything would be alright. It had to be.

BBBBBB

Bart was exhausted. Too much had been happening and he was terrified that he wasn't doing everything right like he was supposed to. He needed to fix everything and make the future better but he didn't think he was doing it right. To top it all off, he wasn't sure what changes he'd implemented by getting stuck at this particular time. He was going to living with the Allens which meant that he would be living in the same house as his baby-version father and aunt. What kind of damage would something like that do to the time stream? He didn't want to know.

"Rough day?" An equally exhausted voice asked him wearily. Bart turned slightly to see Wally coming around to sit on the couch next to him. Wally was staying at the Allen's house for the foreseeable future because apparently his house was too depressing to live in without Artemis and he didn't want to go home to Wayne manor because that'd just remind him that Bruce was being accused of attacking a sector of space. Other than Blue Beetle, Wally knew the most about why he came to the past and it was kind of soothing to know that he didn't have to lie about that to this particular person.

Speaking of which, he might as well repay the favor, "I know that Artemis isn't dead and that she's undercover with Aqualad, who didn't actually betray the Team."

Bart barely noticed the imperceptible shift that told him that Wally had tensed before the older speedster asked cautiously, "And what would make you go and say something like that?" Gosh, the red head sounded so tired. It was tiring to listen to him speak. Bart didn't even want to try to imagine the strain the man was going through.

Bart responded in what he hoped was a lighthearted tone, "From the future and all that jazz. Everything works out in the end. Everyone ends up happy. I can't tell you much more than that without spoilers."

A corner of Wally's lips made a slow, worn trek upwards in a hint of a smile before it fell back into a frown and Wally voice his concerns, "But you're here now. Wouldn't that change something? Doesn't that mean that there's still no guarantee?"

Curse his intelligence. Bart was trying to be totally crash and Wally just killed it. It was a valid point though and now the younger speedster was starting to get worried. Would everything work out alright? He had come back with the specific thought of changing the future. Doesn't that mean that the results of the secret mission would change? Trying to mask the doubt in his voice, Bart assured his current couch mate, "I promise it'll work out fine."

That didn't lift the sullen set of Wally's shoulders like Bart had been planning for it to and it didn't sweep away the depressed expression that seemed to have taken permanent residence on the eighteen year old's countenance and Bart frowned. Wally had made life worth living for everyone forty years in the future and Bart couldn't even wrestle a single real smile out of the man. Wally's voice was bitter when he responded, "I know you don't believe a word you just said. Even though I can't see your face, I can hear everything else and I know when you doubt yourself."

Bart bit his lip in contemplation. He really needed to get Wally away from this topic of conversation. He asked nonchalantly, "How did you lose your eyesight anyways? You always just told me it wasn't important when I asked."

Wally's smile held a bitter twist to match his bitter tone as he answered emotionlessly, "My father figured that since I'm such a monster for having super speed that it would be better if I couldn't run. He obviously couldn't think of a good way to paralyze me at the time; he was probably too drunk, so he blinded me instead. He took a knife and just started stabbing my eyes."

Wow, alright then. Bart was not expecting that one. And he'd been trying to get Wally off of depressing topics. Then again, bringing up his blindness really wasn't the best way to steer away from angst and sadness no matter how he lost that vital sense. Bart sighed; this wasn't going well at all. He decided to change subjects abruptly. Without really thinking about it, Bart blurted out the first thing that came to mind, "I really like Jinx." He did not just say that. He seriously did not just say that. Did he? Please say that he didn't or that Wally didn't hear or anything.

Then a startled laugh bubbled out of Wally's mouth and all of Bart's embarrassment seeped away. He'd made Wally laugh! Score! Wally's tone was incredulous as he turned to face Bart, "Did you seriously just say that you like Jinx? As in, like like her?"

"Yeah. So what?" Bart grumbled, his cheeks heating up in spite of himself.

"Ha! You're blushing! Is itty bitty Impulse embarrassed?" Wally mocked him in a baby-ish tone.

"There is no way you can tell if I'm blushing or not." Bart accused.

"Can to! I can hear the blood rushing to your cheeks." Wally announced smugly. Bart just gaped at him. Seriously? How was that fair at all? Wally continued, "So, tell me about this adorable crush you've developed and what you plan to do about it."

"I, seriously?" Bart asked, suspicious of being teased again. The smile that rested on Wally's face wasn't mocking anymore, though. It was honest and bright and just like a speedster's should be. It made something warm curl in Bart's chest. He thought to himself with pride that he caused that. He made Wally smile which was more than many others could say. Seeing no deceit, Bart continued, "Well, I already kinda liked her when I first showed up in the future before saving Grandpa Barry." He ignored the wince when Wally heard what he called the Flash. It was weird for everyone and they just decided to generally ignore it. He continued, "I mean, she's gorgeous! How can I not like her? And then she had this cute little blush that was an adorable magenta color. And she's so sarcastic. It's amazing! Let's not forget about the part where she's super powerful and not afraid to kick your butt. Wally, I think I'm in love."

Wally snorted before sending him a thoughtful expression, "You know, you sound a lot like I did when I first started liking Artemis. Minus the magenta blush thing. Does she really blush that color? And I wouldn't really be a good judge of how good looking she is or anything like that, but she's definitely got a mouth on her. So what are you going to do about it?"

Bart froze. What was he going to do about it? He wasn't going to do anything about it! Wait. Why shouldn't he? There was no good reason that he could think of as to why he shouldn't try to go out with her. As far as he was aware of, she still wasn't dating anyone forty years later (which was kind of sad actually). Oh, that's why he didn't want to do anything. He voiced his concerns, "Dude, I'm, like, thirty five years younger than her. That's totally not crash."

Wally adopted the same expression he always did when Bart used future slang and the younger speedster just laughed at him. The older speedster smiled and then said, "If you can't go back to the future, then why does it matter? You've only lived for fifteen years, right? So she's a little older than you, but only by a couple of years, not thirty five. Go by how many years you've lived. If she's got a problem with it, she'd let you know long before you ask her out. Go for it, Bart. You never know until you try."

Bart nodded seriously, knowing that Wally would be able to tell. He went to say something else, but his comm went off, "Impulse, we need you to report to the Cave immediately. We have a mission briefing for you." Robin's voice announced in his ear and Wally gave him a parting smile, having heard the transaction.

Bart left with a passing comment, "It'll all be fine in the end."


	28. Chapter 28

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Depressing stuff happens and it ends.

WWWWWW

Wally entered the fray from the same place the Light had entered not that long ago. He'd heard everything, including the part where his girlfriend 'died'. Again. They were going to have a serious talk when this was all over. It was going to go something along the lines of: never ever pretend to die again. Yeah, that'd go over well. Artemis would just scoff at him and call him a worry wart and he'd just sigh and then they'd go back to whatever it was they were doing. She had him whipped. On a more serious note, though, he really didn't think that he could take this again. The first time was torture and it'd taken an hour of Artemis talking to him and calming him down for him to start thinking straight and to fully understand that she hadn't been hurt. The overwhelming urge to rush out and save her when he heard the squelch of the bullet hitting Artemis, the 'blood' rushing out, almost caused him to break his cover, but Robin had put his hand on Wally's arm and held him back. It was so frustrating not being able to see what was going on!

That was when he heard Aqualad and Artemis stand up, accompanied by that strange meshing sound that always seemed to come around when Miss Martian was changing shape. Wally had been ridiculously confused the first time he heard it. Unable to see the change brought about by that noise, he simply heard bones and skin and organs reforming. Anyways, he was off track. He tuned back in just in time to hear Aqualad saying, "And that is the true power of friendship. We are a team and we are a family. We will never abandon each other even after arguments and fights and misunderstanding. Each and every one of us would give their life for the rest. That is what it means to be a team of superheroes." Well, that was dramatic. It was also their cue. Falcon, along with Jinx and Robin, stepped through the entrance the Light had used. Across the way, Wally could hear Superboy, Guardian, and Bumblebee stepping out from the Reach's side. Both groups were effectively trapped. The Reach were mad at the Light and the Light was mad at the Team and the Team just wanted them both gone. So, predictably, a fight soon broke out.

Dick and Wally were back to back, facing their opponents and casually weighing the odds. They knew that there was a slim chance of them winning, but they wouldn't let the younger members know that. Morale boost and all that. Then again, all the secret keeping recently hasn't really boosted the morale at all. It was a good thing that what Aqualad said was true, then. They really were a huge family and their family was being threatened. They would fight to the bitter, bloody end if they had to because as long as there was still breath in their body, they would protect their own. Doubly so for Wally (and Impulse) because they were speedsters and it was practically ingrained in a speedster's DNA to protectprotectprotect. Aunt Iris always joked that the chemicals that made them super humans must have affected the part of the body that regulated parental instincts. Apparently it made all of them overbearing mother hens and Wally couldn't really disagree. And he was distracted again. Great.

Wally grabbed a smoke bomb as it flew in the air and pulled the pin, smashing it back into the ground towards the enemy group of Shadows (when did they get there), mentally thanking James and all of his darts nights. It really improved his aim. As the speedster punched a few men in the face, he thought idly to himself about what the Rogues would be doing. They'd been lying pretty low since the whole Reach invasion thing started, so he hadn't seen a lot of them. Basically, he'd visited for darts whenever he wasn't busy and Hartley taught him to play the piano when he had the chance. They'd moved from flute to violin to cello to piano over the years. It had been torture on Wally trying to get it to work out without telling Hartley that he was blind. He had to listen to Hartley play the piece, memorizing what it sounded like, then he would have to try to figure out what the notes were and then muddle through that and play the instrument. He'd take the sheet music home as well and run it through a machine that would just read out the notes to him so he knew what to play and then he'd practice like crazy at home so he would be semi alright when it came time to play for Hartley again.

Artemis's surprise gasp broke into his thoughts and he cursed inwardly. He should have been paying more attention! He heard the swish of a foot as it came back down to the ground and he heard the whoosh of Artemis flying through the air. Doing a few simple calculations, he estimated where she would land and he quickly ran to that spot. Less than a second later, Artemis was cradled in his arms, letting loose an arrow casually as she remarked, "Thanks."

Growling lowly, Wally muttered, "I'm not sure if I should kiss you or if I should kill you for putting me through this, babe."

He could hear the eye roll in her answer, "Why don't you hold that thought until we're alone?" With that, she jumped out of his arms, rolling to a stop and letting loose another arrow. Someone fell to the ground with a thud.

And then he was avoiding the Brain's attacks as the creature shot at him with some sort of laser. He had to rein in his anger when he remembered that this was the thing responsible for turning his biological father into the monster he was buried as. Before he could let the anger get the better of him, Bart's voice intruded, sounding oddly pleased for the middle of a battle, "So, how's it going?"

"Oh, you know. Same old, same old. Fight some battles. Annoy the heck out of some super villains. Save the world. Nothing big. How about you?" Wally responded nonchalantly.

"Same. It's all going pretty good. Just avoiding getting hit with a laser is all. So, is Artemis coming back out of retirement after this?" Bart asked, casually dancing out of the way of another beam and punching a Shadows goon who got too close.

"Nah," Wally replied languidly, "She's still got college. I mean, she might. I think she said something about planning on either rejoining the Team, or just going out patrolling again. My opinion is she's going stir crazy knowing that there are bad guys out there getting away with their crimes and she could be stopping them. You know?"

Wally felt the smallest movement of air that told him that Bart had just nodded, "Yeah, I totally get that."

"So," Wally continued, "You've done a pretty good job out on the field with the Team. I just thought that you'd do something a little closer to home. In Central, perhaps?"

"Wait, are you inviting me to come join you and Flash on patrols?" Bart questioned wonderingly. Wally heard the smack as Bart punched another goon.

"I'm doing more than that," Wally responded, "I'm asking you to take my spot. I think I'm going to start patrolling a place a little closer to my current home. I mean, there's crime everywhere and now that I know that there's someone to keep up the family legacy in Central, I feel safe leaving it to protect somewhere else."

He heard Bart jump in the air and pump his fist before the younger speedster announced cheerfully, "I'll make you proud!"

Wally laughed and shot back, "You can start with the Brain over here. I think he's gotten frustrated enough with us." Bart immediately shot off towards the villain and Wally winced when he heard something smash into the younger speedster. Yikes. He couldn't afford to stop and check if he was alright, though. He had a battle to fight and he'd spent enough of it idly chatting.

Soon, the battle was over and Robin, Aqualad, and Falcon were standing next to each other, catching their breath and congratulating each other. Then Aqualad sighed and announced, "I had been hoping that we could finish all of this today, here. Vandal Savage, Klarion, Black Beetle, and the head scientist all escaped and I have strong feeling that Ra's al Ghul will return. Lex Luthor and Queen Bee did not even attend this meeting."

"Dude, because of you, the Light is in splinters and the Reach is worse." Falcon assured him brightly.

"Yeah, and you took out Deathstroke before the summit and, once again because of you, we have enough evidence to clear the Leaguers of their charges. I'd say you did a pretty good job!" Robin announced, just as joyfully. They survived and no one was seriously injured. It was better than most missions and Wally couldn't help the thrill that went through him at the victory. It was great fighting with this team again. Maybe he would consider rejoining…

He was distracted from his thoughts when Artemis's unique and gorgeous scent pulled to a stop right next to him and Wally breathed her in, slinging an arm around her shoulders and pulling her against his chest. He buried his nose in her hair and took a deep breath, memorizing every detail, every quirk. Artemis was his and Bart was right. They did make it out alright and everything did work out. He peppered light kisses over the top of her head and, when she tilted his face, he kissed that too, moving over her features carefully before resting his lips against hers. After a moment, they pulled apart with their breaths mingling slightly and Artemis whispered, "So, you decided to kiss me, not kill me, huh?"

"Oh shut up." Wally grumbled back to her, a smile overtaking his face as he bent down for a kiss again.

They only broke apart when Beast Boy shouted, "Oh my god! PDA! PDA! Isn't that illegal or something?! I'm scarred for life!" Everyone just laughed. Life was good.

WWWWWW

Of course, in hindsight, he really shouldn't have thought that life was good. He should have known he was jinxing (no offense meant to Jinx who was a wonderful person) himself when he thought that. Then again, everything was perfectly clear when looking back.

Wally groaned as he ran around another tornado. He and Bart were in the middle of nowhere running around tornadoes and undoing them. He was starting to get exhausted and he could tell Bart had passed that point a while ago (ha! He was better at endurance running even if he wasn't necessarily faster). They were trying to protect the citizens of the world while some of the others tried to figure out the cause of these messed up natural disasters. Well, he probably shouldn't say natural because there was no way these were anywhere near what Mother Nature planned for the world. At least, not all at the same time. Wally shot himself around another tornado, feeling the wind rip at his clothes and his skin. He desperately hoped that none of his pockets came open because he had some things hidden in there that he really did not want to lose.

The little booklet and the extra ring came to mind. The book that Bruce had given him all those years ago on his first Wayne Christmas was obviously too large to carry around with him everywhere, but Robin had made him a smaller one and Dick and Bruce continued to update the books, adding a page to them every time someone new entered Wally's life. The extra ring was if Wally couldn't stand the thought of waiting to propose to Artemis for one second longer and he had to do it in costume. He had one still at home that was completely identical to the one in his suit, but, well, when one is rich then why not go ahead and buy two just for security's sake. Bart's voice rang out in the air, "Falcon. Tornado at 3 o'clock." The younger speedster's voice was tinted with an exhaustion that could prove to be dangerous.

Falcon responded quickly, alarmed at the tired tone his own voice had adopted, "Take a pause and eat an energy bar after this tornado."

"Only if you do the same thing afterwards." Bart shot back, his words almost slurring.

Before either of them could make good on that statement, Robin's voice called over their comms, "Report to Central Square in Metropolis immediately. Time is of the essence."

Wally argued back, "There are still a bunch of tornadoes where Impulse and I are. People will get hurt if we stop diffusing them."

"The Earth will be destroyed if you don't come to Metropolis right now." Robin's sullen voice responded tartly.

Wally heard Bart mutter next to him, "Who peed in his cereal?" as they ran to Metropolis and couldn't help the tired laugh that bubbled out. The two speedsters grinned at each other (at least, Wally assumed Bart grinned back; it seemed like that was something he would do in that situation) and ran to Metropolis as fast as they could, which, admittedly, wasn't that fast anymore.

Somehow Wally managed to beat Bart to the meeting. He attributed it to the endurance thing he'd figured out earlier. Either way, the two speedsters were left panting and pale when they finally reached their destination. Wally could feel the stares of others on the two of them, taking in their disheveled appearance (one can't run opposite tornadoes for hours without looking disheveled) and their obvious exhaustion. Flash, panting almost as hard as they were, walked over to them wordlessly and shoved five energy bars in Wally's hand, presumably doing the same for Bart. The two raised their hands in a small wave to show their thanks. It was all they could manage at the time. M'gann, Conner, Kaldur, Artemis, and Dick walk over to where Wally was hunched, eating his bars as Bart was crowded away by his friends.

Artemis sat on the ground next to Wally and leaned against him, offering support. Dick commented softly, "I've never seen you so tired before."

"Even Bats didn't push me this hard in training. Well, next time I tangle with Weather Wizard, I'll be able to deal with his tornadoes that much quicker." Wally responded. It was a weak response, but he didn't feel like dealing with thinking at the moment.

Kaldur laughed softly and said, "You have done well Falcon. We have all done well, individually and as a team." He took a breath as if he were about to say something else, but Captain Atom gathered their attention to the platform he was standing on instead.

Everyone listened intently with mounting horror as the task given to them was explained. This… this was not good. This was very bad actually. This was at global catastrophe no-one-will-be-left-alive levels. They were paired into groups of two as Wally continued to munch away at energy bars, feeling his strength come back to him and another rush of adrenaline pound through him. He and Artemis were paired and assigned Paris. He didn't waste a second before grabbing his love around the waist and hoisting her into a bridal hold (ignoring the potential implications of that) and racing across the ocean to Paris.

They finally touched down at the Eiffel Tower. As Artemis shot at the drones, Wally avoided their laser beams and tried to wind his way towards the magnetic field disruptor. The couple engaged in small talk as they fought, trying to keep their minds off of the possible impending doom of the entire world. Wally called out, "We'll come back here someday when there isn't a world to save." He was personally thinking of this as a honeymoon destination, but figured he was getting ahead of himself.

Artemis scoffed back in his direction, "There will always be a world to save." She came flying to the side as something blew up behind her, the hot air propelling her forward. Wally caught her seamlessly and held her as she continued to shoot. He heard the arrow ping against the metal of the Eiffel Tower and was confused until he heard small balls go flying from it and hit the drones. He heard the gears in the drones shift and struggle as they tried to avoid doing whatever it was they were doing. Artemis filled in the blanks for him, "Magnetic pellets that attach to the drones and pull them towards each other until they smash into each other and break." Wally nodded his understanding and set her down, rushing towards the magnetic field disruptor and slapping the device on the side of it. It was almost instantly that the scent of a storm left the air and the machine's whirring died off.

Lucas Carr's voice filtered in through their ear pieces questioning, "Has the magnetic field disruptor in Paris been secured? I repeat, has the device been neutralized?"

Artemis's voice answered confidently, "The MFD in Paris has, mmpf!" She was cut off by Wally pressing his lips against hers, kissing her like his life depended on it. He drank her in desperately, content with the fact that he couldn't see her, content with the fact that she disappeared on him for a long time, going undercover. He didn't care that they hated each other at first. He didn't care that she'd taken Red Arrow's place on the Team. He didn't care about any of the countless arguments they'd gotten in over the time they'd known each other. At that moment, all that mattered was that he loved her so much and his heart would break if anything happened to her. But she was alright and so was he. Everything was alright.

It didn't take long for Wally to carry Artemis back up to the Watchtower, smiling at the other occupants of the room. He was there just in time to hear Black Canary's voice over the comms, "Asami and I have disabled our disruptor."

Lucas Carr announced jubilantly, "All twenty groups have disabled all twenty magnetic field disruptors. We did it!"

No one was able to cheer before Captain Atom commented worriedly, "Earth's magnetic field is still being disrupted, though. There's something wrong."

Blue Beetle's voice broke into the heavy silence that had settled over the room, "There's another MFD! It was hidden from my scans by Earth's magnetic field. It's in the North Pole and there aren't any zetas that go there."

Flash's voice responded quickly, "I'll run there then."

Impulse's voice followed soon after, "I'll come with you. Groups of two remember?" Wally smiled. Bart was going to love it here in the past. He would fit right in and Wally knew that the youngest speedster would watch after his uncle in Central.

Then a conversation ensued that had something along the lines of the MFD already going crystallis and Earth's magnetic field being completely messed up and a vortex forming. Then Luthor told them to start running opposite the vortex and undoing the effects. He said that it would take a massive amount of kinetic energy. Wally was already out the zeta tube by the time Luthor finished talking. He heard Artemis's question, "Will it be enough?" as he started to be transported to the place closest to the North Pole.

He got there just in time to hear Flash say, "Even at our top speed, we can't produce the right amount of kinetic energy."

"Good thing I'm here." Wally quipped, "I might not be able to keep up with you two, but I can still add a fair share of kinetic energy." Any response they might have given was torn away in the wind as the three speedsters ran faster than they'd ever ran in their lives. He muttered crossly to himself, "Go ahead and lap me, I'm used to it. Come on, West-Wayne, you can do this. Come on, come on."

And then he started getting hit. He wasn't sure what it was at first. Well, he still wasn't sure what it was but he'd figured out where it was coming from. The MFD was zapping him with something and he didn't have enough warning or room or speed to avoid the strikes. And they hurt! It was like being slammed into by a steam roller that electrocuted every time it hit something. And it kept hitting him. Soon he got the strangest feeling that his limbs were disappearing. It was becoming hard to breathe. He vaguely heard Uncle Barry slow to keep pace with him. Uncle B called over the wind, "Impulse! You have to slow down to siphon off the energy hitting Wally! Impulse!" The youngest speedster didn't hear Barry, though, too focused on his running.

Wally called over to his Uncle, "Don't worry about it Uncle Barry. It… it's alright. Agh, Artemis is going to kill me. And don't even get me started on Bruce and Damian and Jason and all of them. I'd be crucified before I even got in through the door."

Uncle Barry interrupted him, "Hang on, kid!"

"Just… just tell them…" And Wally faded into nothing.


	29. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the epilogue. Reactions and stuff.

BBBBBB

Barry was numb. He was heartbroken and numb and… there weren't any words to describe how he felt at that moment. Wally, his wonderful, funny, smart, talented, determined, kind, loving nephew was… gone. He was dead and gone and all of his friends were cheering and congratulating each other and Barry couldn't even get the breath to correct them and tell them that they should be grieving, sobbing, broken like Barry was inside. Oh gods, how was he going to tell Iris? How would be break the news to Jay and Joan and Wally's friends Linda and John? How was he supposed to tell the Team and Wally's girlfriend and Wally's family? Bruce was going to kill him! They were all going to kill him! Barry was depressed to realize that none of that seemed to matter. Then again, how could it? How could anything matter anymore without Wally? His disappearance from the Team all those years ago had caused the Team to spiral into a depressed state until they found out the reason behind him leaving. Now, now there was no good reason other than the world comes first.

Why did that lightening have to hit Wally all those years ago? Why did he have to be dragged into this world when he couldn't even see it? Why did Wally have to die? Barry barely choked back the sob the tried to escape after that thought. Then Aqualad's voice broke into his thoughts, sounding far too cheerful, "Congratulations. You've saved-,"

He was cut off by Artemis's hysterical, "Where's Wally?"

Barry closed his eyes and inwardly cringed. This wouldn't be good. His voice thick with tears, he started to say, "He said to tell you…" He trailed off, unable to continue while Artemis sank to the ground, hugging herself and whispering the word no over and over again. Barry spoke around a lump in his throat, "He said to tell you that he loves you." That was all it took for Artemis to start bawling, M'gann flying over to her and wrapping her arms around the girl, sobbing herself. Dick and Kaldur glanced at each other, stricken. Jaime and Bart were standing off to the side, horror-stricken looks decorating their face. Superboy hadn't moved, his eyes open wide in surprise, frozen to the spot. Barry just lowered his head before taking a deep breath to center himself. Even though a lot of them were adults now and could take care of themselves, he was still the oldest in this situation and he needed to take control. He announced sadly, "We need to get into the bioship and fly home. It won't help anyone to stay here." Everyone boarded the ship, glazed expressions dominating their features and a broken silence filling the air.

It wasn't long before they made it back to Mount Justice. When they got there, the Leaguers who had been off-world were standing on a beach, staring at the remains of the mountain in horror. Their attention turned to the heroes unloading themselves from the bioship. Batman asked in his gravelly voice, "What happened here?" Barry inwardly cringed again. This was when they found out. Everyone standing before him loved Wally like a nephew and this was going to break their hearts. Barry didn't know anyone who'd met Wally who didn't fall in love with him (villains other than the Rogues notwithstanding).

Aqualad stepped up to the challenge and announced gravely, "We've neutralized the threat and saved the world, but it's come at a great cost." His expression faltered and Barry guessed that he didn't know how to continue. The other Leaguers were starting to look worried.

Barry stepped forward and put a hand on Kaldur's shoulder, nodding at the grateful smile he received, "I don't know how to say this, but… well… Falcon has… Falcon sacrificed his life for the fate of the world. He saved everyone, but he didn't make it out alive." The Flash was glad for the mask that hid the tears that finally started to fall. The members of the Young Justice League from behind him didn't seem to have the same reservations because they started crying anew, mask or not. Even the generally silent and almost emotionless Conner has silent tears crawling down his face.

Batman looked stricken. It was the most emotion Barry had seen on the man's face in a long time and he wasn't sure how to respond to it. The man quickly regained control of his facial features, but Barry knew he'd break down when he had to tell his children about the loss of their youngest sibling.

Slowly, the group dispersed and Barry was the only one remaining. Bart had gone back with Jaime, claiming that he didn't want to stay in the Allen household where Wally's things still were. Oh god, Wally's things were still at his house. Barry was going to have to move his things out of the house. He didn't know if he would be able to handle that. He didn't know if he'd be able to handle anything.

It didn't matter. He was an adult and he had to deal with it. He pulled out his phone and wearily pressed the buttons to call his beloved wife. It rang for a few seconds before she answered, "Hey sweetie! How's it going? Everything taken care of?"

Barry knew his voice was wrecked with emotion when he finally answered but he couldn't bring himself to care, "Hey baby. Can you go to the Garrick's house? I'll meet you there and I'll explain everything once I get there."

There was worry creeping into her voice when she answered hesitantly, "Alright. I'll see you soon."

It didn't take long for Barry to zip to the Garrick's even though he was running slower than usual, the strain of all the recent running and the strain of Wally's death weighing on him too much. He stopped in an alley nearby and changed back into his regular clothes, knocking on the door because he didn't feel like digging around for the key. He didn't feel like much of anything, really. Joan answered the door, an expression of worry and slight fear contorting her motherly face and Barry tried to give her a reassuring smile, feeling like a liar for doing it. He was comforted with the knowledge that his reassuring smile probably wasn't very reassuring.

Barry made it into the living room and plopped tiredly onto the couch. It was all he could do to stop from grabbing his wife and sobbing into her shoulder. Instead, he looked them all in the face, Iris, Jay, Joan, and whispered, "He's gone. Wally's gone."

The expression of horror on their faces broke Barry's heart. He hadn't thought that there was anything left of his heart to break. Iris choked out, "No. No, that's wrong. He… can't be. He's not. He's not dead!"

Tears coming in earnest now, Barry sobbed out, "He's dead, Iris! I saw him die myself. We were trying to negate the effects of the magnetic field disruptor and it started hitting him with this lightning and, and then he started disappearing right in front of me. He told me to tell everyone that he loved them. And then, then he was gone and I couldn't do anything! I couldn't do anything!" With that, he completely broke down. He couldn't even form words as he and his wife clutched each other, Jay and Joan hugging, tears streaming down their face, just as sad about their surrogate grandson dying as their surrogate children's depression. How would any of them come back from this?

BBBBBB

Bruce swallowed thickly as Robin trudged after him into the Bat Cave. He couldn't help the thoughts that swirled around his mind. This was his fault. If he hadn't found that small blind child in that orphanage all those years ago, he'd still be alive. He wouldn't be covered in the physical and mental scars that came from being a superhero. He wouldn't have been tortured by the Joker. He wouldn't have had to experience the death of his friends. And now, now he was dead. It was all Bruce's fault.

Then the thing he'd been dreading most happened. Tim, Damian, Colin, Jason, Cass, and Alfred trekked down the stairs and into the Bat Cave, curious. Bruce decided the best way to tell them was to just be blunt and to the point. He started to talk before his voice cracked and he had to start again, "Wally's gone."

"You mean he ran off? Where would he go?" Tim asked curiously.

"He's dead, Tim. He didn't go anywhere. He was freaking vaporized." Dick's voice cut though the air like a knife and everyone froze.

Bruce observed their reactions carefully, examining them as both Batman and Bruce Wayne. Alfred was stoically attempting to keep a straight, neutral face, but he was quickly losing the battle. Cass appeared as if someone had just stabbed her, shock dominating her very body language. Tim was spluttering, trying to deny it and causing Dick to snap at him again. Damian was comforting Colin who was sobbing openly into his husband's shirt. Jason… Jason was furious. Bruce could see his shaking as he tried to keep himself together. Without another word, Jason stormed up the stairs. They all heard the front door slam and knew that Jason would find his way into the garage and end up at one of his safe houses somewhere. Tim finally stopped arguing with Dick and remarked calmly, "I'm going back to Teen Titans Tower. I, um, probably won't be home for a while."

"I'll be leaving on the next plane to Hong Kong." Cass added quietly. She didn't need to say much because everyone knew that she wouldn't be coming home in a long time either.

Dick cleared his throat and said, "I'll probably go to my base in Bludhaven. They need a hero and I put Aqualad back in charge of the Team, so I'm pretty open." He all but ran out of the door.

Damian clutched Colin to him like a lifeline and whispered, "We're going to go, uh, we'll take that trip around the world that you promised us. It might take a while." Bruce nodded as his last two children fled. That was the most emotion he'd seen Damian express in a very long time.

Bruce glanced around him and saw that Alfred had slipped off at some point, probably to cook something or make tea or something like that. Looking around the Bat Cave one more time, Bruce realized that he was alone. No one was there. He was completely alone. He wondered how many other people felt this way now that Wally was gone.

AAAAAA

Artemis knew that she had to tell Wally's friends. There had already been an official announcement of Falcon's death in service to the world and the entire world had gone into mourning. The speedster had been seen all around the world on his customary global runs and, since he'd taken it upon himself to learn as many languages as possible, he'd made friends in practically every country in the world. Vlatava had declared that day a national holiday to mourn the passing of a true hero every year. Apparently the Queen had almost fainted form shock and had decided to wear black for a month, adorning the halls with Falcon's royal standard since he was apparently someone important in the Vlatavan nobility. He'd forgotten to mention that to her. He'd never get the chance to mention a lot of things to her. That same day, Bruce Wayne had announced that his youngest adopted son had gone missing. America wasn't sure which story they wanted to become more sensationalized and when the billionaire announced the next day that his son was found dead with corroborating evidence from Commissioner Gordon, they were even more confused as to which story they should talk about more. It sickened Artemis. This was a wonderful, kind, handsome, loving person with a loving family and a girlfriend who just wanted him back.

Artemis hadn't done much talking in the past couple of days. The only reason she'd left her couch and Brucely was the knowledge that Linda and John didn't pay enough attention to much of anything to know what was going on. She stopped at their front door and knocked slowly. The siblings opened the door and smiled at her, but she couldn't muster one in response. Her eyes just filled with tears and Linda's face morphed into one of surprise and worry. John questioned gruffly, "What's wrong?"

The words finally tumbled out, "Wally's dead." That was all she could say. The three sank onto the porch and hugged themselves for comfort. Wally was dead and there was nothing they could do about it. Artemis's mind flashed to the little box she'd found in Wally's things at home. Inside the little box was a small ring but Artemis knew what it was. She'd recognize it anywhere. It was an engagement ring. Her perfect boyfriend had been planning on proposing. He'd never get the chance.

BBBBBB

Bart walked up to Jinx with determination coloring his steps. He looked her in the eyes and said, "I really like you Jinx." Her eyes widened in surprise, but he didn't give her a chance to say anything as he pressed his lips against hers and kissed her passionately. Jinx stiffened in surprise for a moment before melting into the kiss. Bart smiled around it and thought to himself that he would make Wally proud. He finally got the courage to do as Wally suggested and make Jinx his and he would make sure that he was the best sidekick to the Flash as he could be. He would never be as good as Falcon, but he would do his best. Artemis had become Tigress and was joining the Team full time and Bart was determined to take care of her as well. No one would recover from this; who could? They would live on, though, and they would all fight to make sure that Wally didn't die in vain and they would all do everything they could to make him proud. It was all they could do now that he was gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will be a sequel! I don't know how long it'll take for me to write, but there will be a sequel and it'll be called 'In Another World'. The first chapter is already posted on ff.net. I'm under the same pen name (DoctorMerlinReid) if you want to check it out. I won't post that story on AO3 until I've finished it, but I'll be posting it chapter by chapter on ff.net. Enjoy and thanks for reading!


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